The Rest of the Story
by anesor
Summary: NWN2, post OC, no MOTB. What happened to the others at the end of the war? Companion to Choices 1, parallel one shot chapters featuring TEN of the companions and secondary characters with what happens to each of them when the KOS is gone.
1. Rap on the Knuckles: Grobnar's Tale

_Most of these characters aren't mine, but I, too, wish some of them were. Only one is mine, but she would deny it, before messing up my song shuffle._

x x x

**Parts Unknown - - -**

_- - - Grobnar_

I giggled as the gate energies surrounded me when I went through, running as fast as I could. The Commander had almost thrown me through, and I had barely touched ground as I fled. I took a couple more steps, and decided that the leafy ferns look quite comfortable, and sat on them. I hurt everywhere, and didn't see anyone around me. I saw no gate, no paladin, no Commander, no funny tiefling. I was alone in a deep woods clearing.

I wanted to sit there and cry, but I was still bleeding through my clothing in several places and I couldn't hear right out of one of my ears. I couldn't even remember if I had any healing potions left. I tried to hum a healing and my voice-box only made this funny gargling sound.

I tried to laugh at that, but couldn't, when I heard someone else casting a healing, a major one.

Feeling the touch of a proper hand on my shoulder, I stopped moving as my eyes came into better focus and my wounds stopped hurting. Once the spell was done, I tried to hum, and was so happy I could, that I did a few bars of my favorite Wendersnaven tune.

"Oh, please! I'd much rather know why you came alone through a quick gate, and reek of shadow energy," she said.

"I shall compose a tune for the invisible healer in the woods!" I told her. This looked to be exciting, too.

An older, tall, female halfling appeared, dressed in light armor, and armed with a rapier. She just did a full heal as smartly as any, and was smiling grimly.

"Grobnar, at your service! And may I know the name of my rescuer? So I can compose that ode!"

"Phremedi of Opal Misted Sky..."

"Oh, that's a lovely name, much prettier than many place names. It just trips off the tongue. Waterdeep isn't that great, and the conjugations are a nightmare. Some like Llorkh, Red Fallow's Watch, and Kryptgarden Forest have a ring to them. Lusken sounds like some skin condition, perhaps a good thing... Crossroads Keep, West Harbor, the Crags, Stone Bridge, Cold Wood, and so many more, all so bland, like these people were drunk when they named them... Have you had any grand adventures? That place name cries out for a good song."

"Why do you play the idiot?" she said, complete with the voice color of a disapproving gramma...

I stopped, and could feel myself flush, for the first time in years.

Phremedi continued, with one raised eyebrow, "Do you do that to your friends, too?... Oh, I see you do. Okay, I want you to think of someone you respect, who's one of the tall folk..."

Closing my eyes, I thought. That was easy, the Commander or Casavir should qualify. I wondered what game this was, and started to smile.

I felt a slap on my hand. "No game! I want to know this, but you **need** to know this! Was this person ever silly?"

Sir Casavir was out for this, so I said, "The Commander, one time, made the two of them..."

Phremedi, with another rap on my knuckles, spat out, "Focus. I only asked a yes or no question. Don't dribble at the mouth. But was he silly all of the time?"

"...No." I was feeling very small.

"Did anyone fail to take him seriously, even after the silliness?" she said sternly.

"No, even the mage approved when she..."

She finished, "Think about it for a while. Quietly. I have some devotions to do..." She rubbed her forehead, before unpacking a small, plain traveling altar and began to pray.

I looked around again. This looked to be a deep woods, in very early spring morning.

"Focus!" came from the altar.

I closed my eyes and thought. I expected it from Mr Sand, Master Kelghar, and even the late Master Jerro, but the Commander, too, got annoyed with me when we were looking for the Wendersnaven. Everyone was a bit mean when we went, though I was excited by what we had found. And even the Commander got peeved sometimes on that trip. Was I being too silly? I thought a while. It was only a fun game, but it seemed no one else was playing, and we lost the rules.

After a bit, I looked over to the cleric, and saw the engraved symbols visible in the low light. A raccoon mask... but that was...

"That was a good joke, Ma'am! Wildwanderer!" I laughed, and said in gnomish.

She turned around, and said sadly in the same language, "No, its not completely a joke. It seems that the only way I can be taken seriously is to not be a gnome in the Faerun. Human children got more respect. Why is that? Do you people play fools, even when alone?"

I thought, and admitted slowly, "Yes, we do. It becomes habit, you see."

"But why!? Everyone I met here thought I was either insane or the most careless fool possible with everyone's safety. I got run out of one town because of some golem getting loose years before. And all I offered was a healing potion!"

"I'm sorry ma'am, I'm sorry..."

"Being a fool can be a protection for the young, but what happens when a threat becomes dire? When you need to fight, or work with the tall folk? They will care less, help you less, and you won't be able to help as well either, when it really counts..."

"Well," I said brightly, "we did just defeat the King of Shadows, spreading out of the Mere... there were bunches of him and..."

"'We,' you said?" she asked sharply, "Did the others listen to your ideas, and value your contributions?"

"The Knight Commander did!"

Slowly, and spaced out like Master Sand, she asked, "But did anyone else?"

"...no."

"What was that?" Phremedi asked sharply.

"No. Some of them, including that nasty Mr. Bishop, said they'd throw me into battle first," I said blinking my eyes, remembering that last fight.

"And if this so-called King had won, how long until he reached gnomish towns or mines?"

Quietly, I said, "Months, maybe less."

She asked sadly, "So how would you have served your people, and the greater good, if they hesitated to trust a fool?"

I couldn't find anything to say, and wanted to cry.

"Come, child. Where do you need to go?"

"Crossroad Keep, near Neverwinter."

"Hmmph. Never heard of them. But we're a day or so out of Innarlith, I'll help you get home faster, lad."

"I haven't been this far away before. I hope they're okay..." I said.

Phremedi mused, "I did want to see as much of the Realms as I could. This should qualify, alright."

So we began to walk and reached a road in a little bit. She pointed out our turns, and didn't seem to walk as fast as I. Asking if I had a light item, she gave me a couple glowing pebbles to tie to my bootlaces. These pebbles didn't flicker as Zhjaeve's spell did.

I had to ask, "Where are you from?"

"Very far, but still on the Prime. Its easier to travel to other planes and then here, than even to use a magical ship to travel here. I've been to over a dozen planes, usually only grouped as 'fun,' or 'places I'd really rather never see again.' I do have a kip on another plane, but I still stay near home most of the time. I will probably travel more once my human friends pass on..." She looked sad.

Yes, I would be sorry to say goodbye to the Commander and Sir Casavir. I wouldn't mind not seeing Mr. Bishop ever again.

I asked, "Where have you been?"

The stories of which, more than filled the rest of our walk, and we camped. She brought out piles of blankets and pillows out of her magic bag.

I asked, "Don't you ever look like yourself?"

She grinned, "My own bad habit. In my land, gnomes are almost all illusionist. Perhaps we, also, get too caught up in fads. I will have to speak on this at home as well. But, if they see me, they expect illusion. But tricky is better than being treated as fools, even by potential friends. At home, I've pretended to be grey elven, but the whole moon/sun elf thing here, got too hard to fake. Here, halfling seems a better choice..." Her appearance changed with every few words to elven, to human child, to dwarven, to halfling, to a stern and tall, elder female gnome, who bowed to me, and asked, "Do you have rations?" and provided some as I was out.

Casting some kind of warding spell, she settled in to sleep. As I settled, I decided again she was a little scary, reminding me of my great-aunt, once removed, Lendicia.

The next day, as a halfling again, we arrived at Innarlith where she asked for map dealers, jewelers, and mage shops. The people she spoke to, ignored me, even when I tried to speak. Selling the gems for local coins, she bought a map that looked nice, verifying with me that the section containing Neverwinter was reasonably accurate. She bought scrolls and potions, as well as lunch.

Once at a nice inn, she said, "We can start in the morning if you need to restock. I'll get a room in your name. Shoo, shoo!"

I left, wondering what I should buy. I didn't keep much money, as I always spent too much on projects like my construct. The Commander kept mine for me, bought the things I needed, but I didn't know where she was.

I rarely worked at inns, the take had never been that good for me, unless another bard was being front man. Another example of how playing the fool cost me. I might as well go back in.

She was sipping on chocolate, while studying the scrolls, and asked, "Back so soon?"

I admitted, "I'm broke, the Commander kept my funds for me."

"Hmm, is he honest with them?" She said off-handedly, looking at the scale.

"Oh, yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry, the Commander is a human female. But she got me more equipment than my share would have been, and parts for my golem as well," I smiled, remembering how much fun tinkering with it had been.

"Ah, a good commander then," she mused. She dug in a pouch and slid me a few gems. "Pass it on to someone else who needs it, when you have it. Shoo, boy. Get some air. Get some more life in your eyes. Buy something sweet."

I went out to the shops, and the purchases did not go well for me. Lesson learned. I wasn't able to magically change my appearance very long, so I'd have to try to be more careful in my demeanor and music. Maybe if I used a disguise to look older...?

Going back to the inn, Phremedi had taken over a corner table for her study of the map.

"There you are, lad, we should be able to get you back home in about a week or two, if this map is accurate. We'll partly walk in another plane, it'll be much faster."

The trip, as they say, was swift and uneventful. She asked about the King of Shadows and the war. That took much of our travel time, and she asked more about the Sword Coast. I spent the evenings noodling some new tunes, ones about the Old Owl Well and Ember seemed the most promising. The final battles, in the Keep, and against the King, were still too disturbing to think about. I still couldn't believe they'd turned on her. I got threatened all the time, but it was never very serious.

Like the way Master Khelgar bickered with Miss Neeshka. Wait, he's the King of his clan now. I should do a good song about that, too. The list of songs I wanted to do was getting so very long, it might take me years to catch up.

Even more distracting was the chance to learn some music from so very far away, while she was here. She even hummed a few new tunes for me as we walked, and apologized she couldn't do them justice. She used a scroll to create a small group of bards for a couple more tunes.

The next day, she asked about the others as we walked. So I told her about them, from the merry, sad tiefling, to the forlorn paladin, to the hollow and bitter ranger.

She asked, "Will you write their tale in your usual style?"

"No, I'm going to leave off the Wendersnaven tunes, unless I'm home. Also, they deserve a tale anyone would admire, especially if its only a tribute. They pushed me through the gate first, and they didn't come through..." I said sadly.

Phremedi let me mourn a time. Briskly, she then said, "I'm glad you want a serious tribute. It may take time for people to trust your judgment," she reminded me.

"I know, Ma'am," I also didn't want her to smack my hands again.

"We should reach your city, tomorrow," she said after checking the map. "I'll tell you some tall tales of my party. The warrior, who thought he could do a one man pincer movement, and the other who was kind of animated undead and talked to us as we tried to get him back for a true resurrection..."

Her tales were kind of silly sometimes, but they had strange lands and many battles. The next day, we reached the outskirts of Neverwinter.

She asked, "Do you need assistance getting to your keep?"

"Maybe, maybe not," I admitted carefully, "It depends on whether any of the others have gotten back yet. Sand has a shop here, and the Commander's uncle has an inn here."

"Hmm, almost always a good investment," she said. "And safer for the neighbors, if drunken adventurers are there to be contained or help with containing trouble. So, lad, this may be farewell. It's just about time for me to leave the Realms. Its sad that those who should be my kin have taken a joke too far. I've gotten more respect from Tanarri and Baatezu than from people here. That kind of contempt is poisonous, so don't encourage it... which way to that mage's shop?"

"Thank you for all your help, Ma'am. This way," I said, trotting towards Sand's shop. Once at his shop, I was so happy to see Sand was there, and ran to hug his leg.

He looked down at me, and said dryly, "I suppose this means you are happy to see me, gnome? And two of you?"

Phremedi laughed, "The Realms are not kind to solo gnomes, this has been much more convenient. I'm Phremedi, of Baervan."

Sand asked, "Planewalker?"

At her nod, he asked me, "How far distant were you?"

"Far away, near Innarlith," I said, trying not to bounce. "Where is everyone?"

Phremedi started looking over his stock, and started pulling out scrolls and eyeballing a small spellbook in a case.

Sand replied, "I'm sorry bard, but you're only the third of us back. Neeshka is the only other one who's returned, and she's staying at the Keep right now."

"A..are they alive?" I needed to know.

"Yes, some. I hired two divinations in Tymora's temple a week ago, and she and Casavir are living, and they would have been the last out. Why didn't you ask her?" Sand asked, waving at my friend Phremedi.

I toed a line in the floor, and said "I didn't think of it, and she's been smacking me, like my great-aunt if I act like an idiot."

"Well? Are. You. Going. to. Ask?" the elf was clenching his teeth again, in annoyance, frustration, or anger.

Sighing, I asked, "Ma'am, could you do a divination for me to find out?"

"Of course, lad. You had only to ask... What specifically, do you want to know?" she said with a smile.

Sand started to interrupt, before I could say even a word.

Saying something short to him in a language that flowed like elvish, but was not quite, she said to me, "Lad?"

I asked her, "Can you check on everyone's health but Neeshka and us?"

Then I looked at Sand. His face was blank.

"Of course," she said.

She cast her spell, which was somewhat different than the one Zhjaeve used. Asking first about the Commander, then Sir Casavir, Khelgar, Elanee, Zhjaeve, and looking out the corners of her eyes at us, Bishop.

I asked, unbelieving, "Why him? He tried to hurt us, killed Master Jerro, and worked with the Shadowking?! I told you all about it!"

"You're young, still. And magic and dumb choices can make you do stupid things. Twice, I almost killed my entire party, all by myself, while under domination magics. The sad part is, that I really enjoyed it. And I died once or twice that way when others messed up badly. Once you've fought with someone for a while, you'll never be completely separate again, whether either side likes it or not. That he could even be convinced to leave at all, means its not that simple. Our mage kept wanting to raise an army of undead squirrels, ticking off most of us, including a knight much like your paladin. After long enough, and it became a running joke." She finished, "Plan ahead, for you will find him or he will find you, by design or bad luck."

Sand asked carefully, "And the result?"

"They are all healthy now. I feel it will be all right again, but that is not as sure, being just a feeling and not one of my questions," she admitted. "As it were, I'd like to make some purchases, mage, and learn of any other good places for new spells, before I leave."

Dryly, he said, "I might be more interested in trade..."

I sat down to think, and tinker with the Ember melody, while they negotiated. Once done with their trade, she said farewell, and stepped out onto the street.

Once it was just us, I asked, "What was that she said to you?"

Snidely, he said, "Words to the effect that you were being schooled to think more, and that I should not interfere."

"She's been trying, but decades of habit are hard to resist," I said.

"Any improvement would be a splendid thing, and welcome," Sand said wryly.

I winced.

He continued, "Do you want to go back to the Keep tonight?"

"Can it be later? I'd like to say goodbye, if she comes back. And she reminded me of my family..."

Amused, he said, "But they never sounded as competent."

"That's what she wants me to work on," I sighed.


	2. Can You Be Too Patient: Elanee's Tale

_Many of these characters aren't mine, you should know which by now. I, too, wish some of them were._

x x x

**Parts Unknown - - -**

_--Elanee _

I fled through the magical gate, glad that the font of the unnatural, that was the King of Shadows, had been destroyed.

The energies flared, and Naloch was still with me, but when I came to an unsteady stop on the hill of scree, I was otherwise alone. There was no gateway visible. The bard, who had gone through a bare step before me, was not here. Nor were any of the rest who were following behind, including my mere-ward.

Naloch came over, _Do they live?_

_--I wish I knew, they are such brief candles anyway, but it still seems too soon. Let me bandage you, healing will have to wait..._

_Until you rest, yes, yes. You think I don't know it after all these years?_

_--Of course. Then a bit of shelter would be good..._

_You'd be feeling better, if you hadn't used all your healing on the others!_

_--I lack your teeth old friend. And few of my spells affected them. I could do more by healing those who could be more aggressive._

_But it never felt your teeth or claws!?_

I smiled, _The commander, the paladin, and the dwarf were my claws. You never liked the way they tasted either._

Naloch grumbled, and began to explore as I bandaged myself.

I was always unhappy at the existence of the undead of any kind, like those shadows or liches, trying to cheat the ending of a natural cycle. It never worked in the long run, but corrupted so much before it ended. While I could admire the young paladin's... verve in ending the threat, I found it impossible to commit my efforts to that degree. Everything was just too interconnected to forget the rest.

But I had now seen the result of that lack of commitment. My brothers and sisters thought they could hide in the stillness of nature, and the threat would pass them by, like a wolf or tiger would. But this time had been far worse than the others. Great tracts of land were corrupted and dead, for who knew how many years. Villages, too small, and too precarious in the swamps, to even be a threat to the wildlife, were gone, snuffed out. I hoped at least some of the animals managed to flee ahead of the blight. But they would not return until the land had recovered. I doubted even the insects could survive, as dead as the blighted areas had become.

And this was the damage before our victory, what if that Thing had won?

The circle was corrupted and dead. I do not know for sure if their souls were released when they died, or if they were too damaged. I never was one of those in direct contact with other circles, I was still considered too flighty. But now it would be my responsibility to try... no, to successfully help recovery. I wondered how I would find other druids, or maybe benign rangers, to help with the rebuilding. That spiteful man-child would never have helped, despite his wolf and the links to the Mere that I sensed. Maybe I could find some others in my travels back home.

And the others of our group. I had avoided thinking about them so far. As far as I knew, only two had died, but I was concerned with the injuries I had seen on the dwarf and paladin at the last. The tiefling had also been shaky from the magic used on her. I had felt only brief sorrow for the sorcerers, one so corrupt, and the other such a spoiled child. I had known some good folk who had been sorcerers decades ago, but these two...

But I could do nothing to help any of them now. I should find a place to rest and then find my way back. I sipped some water from my skin and nibbled on some nuts. It was nighttime, but there was little life nearby that I could sense.

Naloch returned, _There is an overhang a short distance away. This stone field seems lighter there._

_--Thank you. Let us go._

Curled up with Naloch for warmth, I was determined to go to sleep, and I did.

When I woke, Naloch was trying to dig for some grubs in the thin soil around some stunted bushes. He was getting in a foul mood, due to his lack of success.

_--Good day, friend. I still have some rations if you wish._

_Dry as leather, I wanted something with squish. I'm hungry!_

I gave him the rest of the dried meat. The bit of nuts I had would help me get by until we could find more food, he needed to eat more often.

_--Let me check your bandage, and I will heal the rest._

He grumbled as I carefully removed and saved the wrapping in a pouch.

I cast my healing spells, but they were not as effective as I expected. I healed myself as well.

The necessities of getting food and water meant it was time to move on, although I might have preferred to finish healing before starting our journey. I would need to learn how far we had come from the Mere and the direction we needed to go.

This meant I would need to find some kind of settlement. I could feel no circle's influence in this land, though the land did have a strange feeling to it. An allegiance to something different, and not of nature. It did not reek of evil, quite, but it left me feeling uneasy. Carefully sliding downhill, we found a stream, with water barely trickling. By midafternoon, the stream had become a brook. Plenty of water and grubs for Naloch to snack on.

In another day, it had become a creek, and I had seen signs of miners in the past. The soil has become less rocks and gravel, and food for both of us has become more plentiful. Shortly before sunset, I found the remains of a village or a mine, even. But the building style was strange, and it looked like the mine had been destroyed. I saw both structural and fire damage in the remains of the buildings, but could tell nothing else. I saw no remains, scattered or not, of those killed.

Were all the people, dead or alive and taken away? There was a graveyard, but the graves did not look disturbed, nor home to undead.

The best thing is that I found the remains of a trail or road going off. The larger trail, going south had decayed pit traps along it. A trail, more narrow, going towards the north was only marked by some old trail blazes.

Which side of the conflict did I want to encounter? Miners, or ones who destroyed them?

_Deep, dark hole with ticks and flies at the wound... Asking the path is not approval._

_--You are right, I will merely ask the more recently used path, the destroyers._

The markings were many seasons old, and I had to cast about several times to find the path as I traveled. Naloch was getting short-tempered at the delays, enough to wish for the tracker, but losing time was as nothing to me. After another day we found a well used trail, and chose the lower direction.

The land was becoming more temperate, even though I still felt no kind of Circle influence. The signs of people became more frequent, and I saw the smoke of a small village of some kind tucked in the side of a hill, late in the day. Strangely, a hawk was circling over the village, and ignoring, or not seeing the swirl of some kind of spirit around it as it flew.

I turned my course to take me to the village, and as I grew closer, I heard a clumsy stumble in the brush.

"I mean you no harm. I only hope for directions," I said carefully in the common tongue. It had been the better part of a tenday since I had spoken aloud.

The noise stopped, and then rushed away towards the village's location. I took a drink from my waterskin, wishing I had time to prepare a soothing tea for my voice. Afterwards, I continued on.

I had gone only a few hundred yards when I heard a young voice, trying to whisper.

"Is she starving? She's too skinny and short"

A second voice said, "I dunno, maybe she's not done growing yet. Her ears look funny, all sharp and sticking out like she put gum behind them."

"Do you think icicles grow there in the winter?" returned the first voice.

I have gone very far, if they have not seen elves before, or at even the half-blooded. Curious, I stopped to have another drink, offering some to Naloch. I caught a glimpse of the hawk again, circling over us, still with the spirit rider.

_--Can you see that, friend? How that ghost hovers around the redtail, but doesn't harm it?_

_Only as you perceive, its still too far for me._

"Ooh, she has it trained! I thought badgers couldn't be trained for much. I want one, now. I don't want a frog or snake." The second one was sounding more like a petulant child, now.

The quieter one said, "I don't think its a bonded, they feel empty. And she's not even carrying a mask. It must be trained."

This had gone on long enough, so I moved on, still listening. They followed, but neither closed nor ran away. It was now only hundreds of yards to the village. But now closer, it was less a village, than more of a remote farm house gone amuck with additions. It looked like there once had been a house and barn-like building, but all the space in and around them had been filled in by additions, dozens of them over the course of many years, judging by the moss.

Standing in front of this... structure, was a human female, a mature adult, wearing a feathered mask with crystals and metals, as if it were festival.

"Greetings. I mean no harm, I am only seeking directions."

"Directions to where, elf?" asked calmly.

Ah, she was more knowledgeable.

"I seek the city of Neverwinter..."

"A charming name, but I've never heard of it," said the masked woman wryly.

"Perhaps," I offered, "The Sword Coast, or Waterdeep?"

The look of recognition was unmistakable, and heartening. Though my distance from home was also obvious.

"You are very far from home," she confirmed.

"Can you tell me which way I need to go?"

"Are you a 'magic user'? I heard that elves have an affinity to the Weave."

"No," I returned, "I have links to nature, which allow me to heal and other things. Though others of my kind do work with arcane magics. Do you need healing?"

"We have no injuries. But I wanted to warn you that this land is... unfriendly to strange magics. It is better you are not a male, as unallied male mages are hunted here, as we are always under threat from Thay."

"The Red Wizards?" I could feel my distress, even as I spoke.

"I see their poison has spread even that far, but you are next to their homeland now," she said gravely.

This would be where the young Commander would swear, and I considered it, briefly. I needed assistance.

I asked her, "Would it be possible for me to hire a guide past their immediate influences? I must get back!" I stopped, I was losing control of my voice.

"First, you must explain this caul of evil all over you. It had better be convincing." Came as a snarl.

I could only blink at her, "What do you mean?"

"The only thing helping you now is that you seem to have no ill intent, but evil is flowing off of you and your pet." She was getting angry now.

"I... I am sorry. I do not know why. My own spells are acting oddly, and I was not aware of this. Perhaps..." I tried to think.

She waited, fiddling with some rings.

"We defeated a great evil and fled through a gate. But that was days ago," I said quietly.

She asked sharply, "We? There are more of you? Where?"

"I do not know where they appeared. I was the only one to appear here. I wish I knew where they were."

"What evil is this? Could it follow you through that gate? Where is the gate?" she was alarmed, now.

It was my turn to be calming, "No. This revenant of a past empire is quite destroyed. But we had to flee through an unknown gate or be crushed underground. The gate was unstable and about to collapse..." I had to take a deep breath.

Still sharply, she said, "So you had no idea where the gate would lead?"

"No, it had been made by our opponents, and our mage said it was closing," I told her quietly.

"I have heard no reports of strangers appearing, but you will need to meet with my senior. We will leave in the morning. Please camp over there, I do not want you any closer to those in my care. Food will be brought to you."

She stated, commandingly, "Do not use your magic. Few will tolerate it."

"Thank you for your help." I said quietly.

The night passed quietly. The food was a little odd, and the two youngsters did not return. Nor would they.

Early the next morning, she came over to me, wearing more sturdy traveling clothing. "It is time for us to go, Mulsantir is several days travel away, and we must be careful."

"Of course. I am Elanee, and this is Naloch, my companion."

"I am the hathran, Recca Jufe. Here is some food for your travel." The odd redtail followed us, it must look to her, though she did not say anything about it.

And that was the last thing she said for three days. The child used to tease me that I was too quiet sometimes, but even I talk more than this. I think we would have continued that way, all the way to her superior, if we had not been attacked by some bugbears. I used my scimitar, and Naloch was happy to fight, but she only cast spells. And while her spells were different in form to those Sand or Zhjaeve would use, some were of each school. But she was knocked out, when there was still two of the creatures left.

After the last was dead, I checked on her. She was alive, but gravely injured. First I bandaged her, using some extra herbs, of the smelly, if harmless kind. Then I cast a healing spell, even though it was not as effective as normal. She was still unconscious, so I cast another before moving her a short distance away.

I waited a for some hours for her to wake, leaving Naloch to watch her by a fire while I looked around. I wanted to see if I knew any of the local plants' usefulness to replenish my supplies. Some looked familiar, and I took some cuttings and seeds, for later examination and comparison.

_She wakes!_

Returning, I found her awake, and fiddling with a smooth stone.

Her first words were a sharp, "I warned you not to use your magic!"

"I understand. But I have made promises to heal those who need it and are not a threat. I will accept whatever the consequence is."

She said something after I turned to check on Naloch, and I replied, "I am sorry for your loss."

"You heard that? Another spell, despite my warning?" she was almost outraged.

I was puzzled, "No, the People all have good hearing. Was I supposed to ignore that, as with the children?"

"They said you had not spotted them," she said, outraged.

"They seemed harmless younglings. Druids such as myself, and rangers to a lesser degree, become one with the land. I watched over a young charge for over twenty years without being seen, here would only be slightly more difficult to not be seen."

She sighed, "I should not have spoken that aloud. I was regretting the loss of Marles, my bodyguard, who was to protect me as I traveled. It was far too soon."

"It is true that traveling is usually safer in a group," I said cautiously. "We could not have succeeded in our mission, without everyone who was with us, even briefly." Even the sorcerers and ranger, alas.

"But this was no mission, this was a stupid accident! I lost my protector, my friend, and my brother. We never went on our dejemma, but even that doesn't hurt as much as his loss."

Her voice was almost thick with tears, though her eyes were dry. "I waited too long! For everything."

I tried to be calming, though I knew I was not good at this, as others were. "I grieve for thee."

She only turned away.

I ignored Naloch's snide comments about my own choices.

After a time, I helped her move further from the site of the combat. She was still not fully healed, so we would not be able to travel as quickly. And from then on, she talked a bit more, mostly commonplaces, occasionally talking about her friend. After two days, I realized, she was grieving for more than a brother, and for lost opportunities.

She must have healed herself a bit, as she was fully recovered the second morning, and we arrived in Mulsantir. She began to wear a different mask, and was greeted with deference as we crossed the streets. I seemed to be exciting the interest of many small children.

We approached a huge complex of interconnected buildings, halls and barracks and still rooms. I had seen no temples, but I saw people with injuries passing in front of us. But we turned a different direction, into narrower halls. We came to a quiet still room, where I welcomed the sight of drying herbs, before seeing an elderly woman. Or elderly for a human, perhaps eighty.

Recca Jufe knelt before the older woman gracefully. "Hail, Mother. I have brought the outlander, as you commanded, for your disposal."

The older woman looked at me solemnly. I could see a swirl of spirits around her, suddenly, and her eyes became a clouded gray across the entire eye.

Her gaze became piercing, "What brings you here, Nature's daughter?"

I replied, "I wish only to return to my homeland, beyond Waterdeep, near Neverwinter. Can you cleanse me of the evil your... colleague says hangs over me?"

From the floor, Recca Jufe said, "It has grown weaker in the last few days, Mother."

"What can you offer in trade for our assistance?"

It was time to begin trade, and I agreed to trade my knowledge of simples, potions, and the Shadow King. I did not agree to breach the privacy of my friends, but spreading knowledge on the githyanki and Shadow reavers would be wise. Still, it took a tenday and an odd ceremony with dozens of spirits, for me. I taught some new, to them, healing simples, and told them about the corrupted Illefarn Guardian, to finish our bargain.

By that time I was feeling an impatience, foreign to me. And I could finally sympathize with the child's restlessness during the war. I could only hope she was still alive, but I had no way of knowing from this distance.

At last, I was free to leave. It seemed Recca Jufe was assigned to accompany me, as far as Waterdeep, and remain there for a time. So we left Mulsantir with a couple of guards for the first leg of the journey.

It was an interesting journey, taking what seemed too many tendays for the hathran and I to reach Waterdeep, though we often traveled with trade caravans. Once there, I said farewell, and sought the circle I'd heard was near here. I even heard a rumor of the King of Shadows' defeat, but nothing about survivors.

I spoke to the circle, and requested help for the Mere, and for the path home. One said he would come with me, and the others promised to spread word of our need.

Haddin and his companion bear reached the edge of the blight area, and was horrified. It wasn't as new to me, but it was still painful. We traveled through a handful of deserted villages within the blight, a few with the remains of a winter wheat crop decayed and uneaten in the fields, but no later crops or green growth.

Visibly close to tears, Haddin was holding his companion. Naloch came over to me, and sat in my lap while we waited for him to recover.

"Is the land this dead elsewhere? For how big an area? For how long?" he asked through his tears. Impatient to begin.

I admitted, "I am not sure. It was still expanding when we went into the Shadowking's edifice, perhaps three months ago."

He stood, "Then I will travel the edge this way. When we meet, we will know."

And he set off, with Belund following him, his face still wet. I left in the opposite direction with Naloch.

_Do you think he will stay?_

_--I hope. He wanted a challenge, and the Mere is certainly in need._

Another day and I could see the entrance into the Shadowking's warren. I was surprised to see a small camp, the ash still warm, at the edge of the blight.

_Naloch, go out and find who it is..._ With hope rising.

But even as I was turning to look around, I found myself in an embrace.

"I am joyful to see you. Have any of the others survived?" was asked of me in elvish. "Has my daughter?"

It was Daeghun, and I was shocked to see a glint in his eyes.

In formal speech, I announced, "I am sorry, but I do not know. We fled through a gate, as the ceiling began to collapse."

Almost pleading, "But did she live?"

"At that time, she had pushed most through ahead of her, and was trying to convince the paladin to move as well. If she escaped, she could be very far away, as I was. I can commune to learn if she died here, but I regret I can not tell you more."

"That is more hope than I've had these months. Thank you." He stepped back and gave me an archaic, court bow.

_Its Daeghun, the Commander's foster father!_ Naloch said snidely.

_--Thank you, for that timely information._

I settled on the ground and cast my divination magic. There were no more shadows within the range of the spell, and the only bodies were of the two sorcerers, so the others had escaped as well. It had been months, and at least the undead were now gone.

His eyes were on mine, when I came back to myself.

"She must have made it through the gate, as the only corpses are of the two sorcerers. But I cannot say where she went, as the bard went through just ahead of me, but I was alone after passing through that gate." I said in warning, as I did not want to give false hope, "I cannot say how safe her destination was, the gate was created for the enemy's convenience. But she did not die here."

His face had become the controlled blankness I was more accustomed to seeing him wear during the previous months.

I began to say, "I am doing a circuit around the blighted area, with another I hope to become part of a new circle for the Mere. Do you wish to come?"

"Yes, I would welcome the diversion. Though I have been exploring the last two months myself." His companion, a feline of some kind, was peeking out from a withered bush. I hoped to learn its name.

I looked at him carefully, and said, "Then I would like to go back to the Keep. Perhaps the others will be returning as well, and the Tyrrian Ivarr will be willing to ask his god for omens of their survival."


	3. Debtor's Spell: Sand's Tale

_Many of these characters aren't mine, but I, too, wish some of them were._

x x x

**Parts Unknown - - -**

_- - - Sand_

The flashing of planar energies was painful as I fled for the gate. I was sure that it probably drew some energy from the plane of shadow, but its pulsing made me think it was also drawing from another plane. I saw Elanee leap and Grobnar almost fly through it. Khelgar had been carrying an unconscious Zjhaeve as they went through next. I had been a little surprised to see the tiefling delay a moment, looking back at the Commander, who was cursing at the paladin to "Keep moving, you idiot!"

His face, on occasions like that, was always entertaining.

With a small smirk, Neeshka went through just before me. I could hear them just behind me as I stepped through.

A bone numbing wave of flame and cold passed through me as I left the Mere. I regretted that I could not have studied the gate, and hoped it was safe. But it was far safer than the rocks we'd had to weave through to get to the gate.

I ceased those thoughts, when I appeared in a dim place, in mid-air. I was off balance when I landed, with a painful snap in my forearm to add to my other injuries. I was in a dusty chamber, and sneezed as I carefully stood up. I didn't see or smell anything else in the room, whether living or unliving.

I probed the pain in my lower left arm as I scanned the room. The room seemed to be used for storage, holding trunks, wardrobes, and perhaps armor manikins in a large cluster. There was dust on every surface, a dreadful job at housekeeping. It was a large space, though a human might have thought the sloped ceiling was a little low. An attic of some kind. The manikins were not all huge, so probably not a place where armor was only for burly men and half-orcs. The temperature wasn't either cold or stifling, so I had not gone extremely far, nor further into the north. The construction looked typical for human areas, so I might be within travel distance of home, either one now.

I took a moment to think on that. When had my shop by the docks become less than that? I had lived there for decades now, but I had somehow become fond of the children, even with their bickering.

But these threads of thought only took an instant as I probed my lower arm and found the break. It was a simple one, which had not broken the skin. I wrapped it, to protect it at least, with a strap from my bag of holding. I wasn't adept enough at bandaging to think I could set it one handed, and I was out of healing potions.

I regretted that I lacked even the company of even the idiot Grobnar, as at least he could be trusted to help if I gave instruction in very small words. How he'd mastered so many instruments was beyond me.

Checking, I was singed, frozen, tired, wounded, dirty, and nearly out of spells. And alas, my robes were now fit only for the dustbin. The handful of spells I had left in memory or on scroll, might, just might, kill some orcs.

My next decision should be whether to rest here, so I can study my spells, or leave, hoping I can find someone willing to heal me. I couldn't even summon my familiar anymore today to scout the building for me.

The dust made me start to sneeze again. I stopped it, but my ears popped. That decided me, perhaps I could find an inn, or Tymora willing, a temple I could trust. Then I could decide my course of action.

Taking out a square of clean linen, I washed as much as I could, and used a cantrip to clean my clothing, even if I could not mend it. There was no reason to appear uncivilized, even after a battle. After sipping a little of the fine vintage from my bag, I felt ready to leave.

I really wished some of the others had appeared here, it was so odd we hadn't appeared together after passing through that gate. Did I have a gate-key they lacked, or was I the one to lack one? I should have saved up for a crystal ball, but they had been dear since the wailing death, and it never seemed to be a rush.

Traveling alone was an unfamiliar experience again. Working for the city, I often had guards. The Commander was as good at intercepting threats as Casavir, and kept us all together.

I could not say I regretted our 'losses' in that battle. That idiot girl was as dangerous as a blast globe, and about as bright. A waste of what talent she had. And Jerro, him I did not trust. He was intelligent and cunning and I was afraid of what he would do after we had served his purpose. He was too fond of blood magic and infernals, and he had been with us far too long, to have not gotten holds on most, if not all of us. I know I'd been afraid my use of a road-name would not be enough of a protection from him. Now, Bishop had been a rare surprise, killing Jerro. He would have been offended if I had thanked him, which would have made it all the better. Even more of a surprise, was when he turned on the shadow general Garius, and I wondered what was that arrow that he used. Maybe the Commander would know, It had looked like he was still using the same equipment she'd upgraded at times. And then he left, depriving Casavir of the chance to kill him. So, for all his vitriol, he may have balanced much of what he did at the Keep.

But the paladin was barely restrained by the Commander, though we needed him badly against the King. It was always the snake and mongoose act with them, despite her deliberate neutrality. Pah, no patience or sense, either of them.

I walked around the attic, and found only one door and two screened vents, almost completely closed. A small, cool draft came in the one. The door didn't seem to have a lock, so I merely opened it and stepped through.

What I stepped into, appeared to be a simple bedroom, even if good sized. Bedroom suite, work area, drawing board, and sitting area, all it lacked was a window. Even as I scanned the room, the other door opened, and a young woman, of the People was in the doorway, looking surprised.

I bowed, and said politely, "Greetings, young lady. I regret that I have appeared unannounced. May I ask for the hospitality of your house?"

She blinked in befuddlement an instant, but recovered quickly, and said, "I can not offer the hospitality of the house, but I would be pleased to be of what assistance a visitor could hope."

Hmm, not a member of the household, but not indentured. I should be safe.

"I would ask, really, of only two things. Direction to healing, and where am I?"

"Elder," she said with a curtsy, "you are presently in the upper floor of the Establishment of Drissui Yorphe in Waterdeep. As for healing, I would know which temple you would prefer before offering direction."

"Is it not obvious?" gesturing at my damaged robes and injuries, "I follow Mystra."

With a slight smile, she said, "Of course, I should have realized."

But then she switched to an older etiquette form and said, "I would be pleased to offer my guidance, if you gave tales of your travels in trade."

I suspected I was smiling, though I had not willed it, and said, "Then we have a bargain. But be warned, that form is centuries older than I, as well."

"Please follow, then," she returned serenely.

So I followed her down three flights of stairs and through a large building out onto the streets. It seemed this Yorphe was a designer of fine and court clothing, so we were in the better part of the city.

I hadn't been to Waterdeep for at least a decade. Once we traveled some distance, I knew where we were, and that we were approaching the temple.

When we reached the entrance, I bowed and said, "I thank you for your guidance, I will return with my payment one evening when I am released." I did not know how much of a payment there would be in the temple.

She returned the courtesy, and said, "You are welcome. You will need to ask for Ehlah Zilophnae."

Turning, she left in a different direction. Watching her a moment, still smiling, I realized again that I was exhausted, and turned to enter the temple.

Inside, I could feel the hum of active magic surrounding me warmly. Ah, Lady Mystra.

An acolyte took one look at me and escorted me towards more private chambers for healing. I was taken to a work room where a human male was engaged in preparing reagents for alchemy.

To the youngster he said, "Thank you child, you can go back now."

"Is the city under attack, my son?" he asked me.

Switching back to the common tongue, was almost jarring, even after such a short time away.

"No, Elder. I have been traveling." The irony of calling him elder was quite amusing, but other possible honorifics in the temple would have been worse.

Firmly, he ordered, "Then sit down, I'm Etiron. I'm surprised you are on your feet."

As I sat, I realized how much I'd needed to.

First, the broken arm, he well understood my priority. It was pleasant to be with those who didn't need explanations. Then he healed my other injuries without negotiations. I was surprised at how many spells it took, and dismayed at the lack of bargaining.

I was going to owe a great deal.

He interrupted my thoughts, asking, "Are you aware you have been contaminated by a flood of shadow energy?"

"I would have thought as much, as we just finished destroying something claiming to be the king of shadows."

"We? Are you the only survivor?" he asked, curious.

"I do not believe so, but the gate took them elsewhere. What is the price for your healing?" I hoped the price would not be too steep, but I was already past the point of most bargaining.

"For the healing? A brief time tutoring on uses of arcane spells for some and a period of lecture for some loremasters in training. We will provide shelter while you do."

"Agreed." That price was quite acceptable, I would have to negotiate later for some healing potions.

"An acolyte can lead you to a guest room, so get some sleep. Even you need it now."

I found an acolyte in the main worship space, who led me to a guest space, where I fell into the deepest sleep I had had in years.

I woke, and selected spells more useful in a city. I was hoping to keep a low profile, here, as I had once had in Neverwinter. This city was too notorious for it's mages and politics for me to wish to be caught up. Although I was hoping to acquire some new spells while I was here as well.

Satisfied that I was again prepared, I also considered the need for new robes. Perhaps the temple steward or curator may have some.

When I left the guest apartment, I found an aasimar acolyte seated in the hall, reading.

She stood, saying, "Father Etiran has placed me as your guide for now. You have a lecture this afternoon, do you have any tasks you wish assistance with?"

Generous. How much was I going to owe for this?

The curator was quite willing to trade, and I got a new robe with some enchantments, as well as healing potions. The prices weren't too bad, no war was here as recently.

"Child, take me to whomever can be hired for divinations. Thank you."

Again I found myself in Etiran's lab.

My amusement was fast disappearing. "Am I to be your pet, in my time here?"

"A bit of the shadow magic yet clings, so yes, you will be seeing only those experienced or protected while it does," he said calmly. "What would you like to request?"

Damn, there goes more of my cash reserves, if I had to remain here a time.

"I was hoping to hire a divination about the fate of my party."

His price was only a little steep. But all living when I left them, still lived. At this rate I would be out of funds soon, so I returned to my suite and recorded lists of things to research and a few spells I hoped to acquire, one in particular.

A knock at the door, announced the return of my guide. Presenting a luncheon tray, she said, "They will be awaiting you in an hour, I will return."

Its a good thing I wasn't that social, by the way I was being avoided.

I was then led to a small chamber with five people awaiting me. Most had holy symbols for Mystra, and two of the five wore the servicable, sturdy clothing of travelers, or adventurers.

And so the interrogation began, ranging widely, but covering even my suppositions about the Shadow King. The more elder two often checked what I said, separating what I knew from direct experience, from research. This would be continued tomorrow afternoon. But I had found it more stimulating than draining, and returned to my chambers, and summoned Jaral for company.

The next morning, the breakfast tray preceded a trip to the seminar room. This time there was a larger group, with more Mystran priests, though the two travelers from yesterday were in this group as well. One half-human and the other human, they hadn't seemed to know each other yesterday, but they were much more friendly today.

Ah, youth. And spring was near. Who would select the pace? No matter, it was usually an amusing show.

This lecture was much more straightforward. We had only gotten through the first two groups of spells, their use and misuse, when the group began to stir and break up. The younger ones chattering as they left. My guide arrived with another luncheon tray, and yesterday's lore class returned.

After dinner in my chambers, there was another knock at the door. It was Etiran, and I bowed him in.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit? I asked with a touch of sarcasm.

"Peace, peace. I am here to help, to check your... shadow," he said with a small smile.

"As long as I do not have to wait four more tendays," I said with more bite than I'd intended.

He cast a true seeing and examined me. His smile afterwards, said it all.

Etiran said, "Welcome to Waterdeep. As long as you continue your lectures you are welcome to stay. You are also welcome to make use of the library as long as you make a contribution to it."

Ah, how they benefit, fresh knowledge. "Thank you. I would be glad to."

By the next morning, I had composed a note to Ehlah, and found someone from the temple's lay staff to deliver it.

The morning seminar had fewer, and I could tell when each had gone beyond their own experience and lost interest. The two adventurers had progressed beyond flirting, but they were both experienced in the spells covered today. The female was better at synthesis, of unusual applications. The young man was a bit more interested in good timing.

I skipped the evening meal, and went visiting shops. I needed to get an idea of prices, and what I might get for items I was willing to sell. I did buy a few potions and another robe, but nothing else today. When I returned to the temple, I found a message from Ehlah, setting a meeting at a tea-shop.

The next day, the seminars went as before. The adventurers were a little late, and smirking. Otherwise, it was as before, but now I was getting some ideas from both groups as well. One idea was for combining scrying and a message spell for communication as a charged item. Another was combining a ceremony with banishing the undead. Of course you would need two priests to try that, and I'd heard of few groups like that. But the new magic item sounded promising.

That evening, I went to the tea shop.

Ehlah was in a booth with a privacy curtain and a full tea service. She smiled when she'd saw my arrival.

"Good evening. I am here to redeem my pledge." I was amused, though I kept my face controlled.

She nodded, and began to pour the tea. "I am glad you have been released, at last. You are well?"

It was pleasant to speak again in the Speech, even if only minor pleasantries. I'd missed it. The tea was pleasant as well.

After a time, she said, "I would like to hear more from your journeys, Sand."

"What would you hear? Stories of far places? Stories of magic and combat? Stories of heroes? Or stories of pain and tragedy?" I had all those stories, and some were of all of those.

She thought a moment, and said, "Tales of new places. Of sights, and markets, and wonders to be seen. Places fair and wondrous, and why you found them so."

Hmm, I'd expected heroes and tragedy from such a quiet woman. Warning her that some of this may be dated, I began to tell her of places I'd been. The tea pot had been refreshed, she had asked interesting questions about the types of people in each place. It was a pleasant time.

I realized it was late, as the shop had emptied of humans.

Ehlah said, "Thank you for your tales. Your bargain is complete."

"Perhaps then, it is your turn. Why are you hidden in the attics, like some awkward uncle?" I called for more tea.

We talked a good bit longer, until it was getting close to dawn. With many apologies and hints of something warmer, she left to fulfill her contract, with the morning light's arrival. Nothing grand, just an extended apprenticeship for clothing in high style. She was nearing the end of it, though, and growing weary of the imbalanced relationship. I could sympathize with that, given my intermittent relationship with the city of Neverwinter.

Freshening up before the morning seminar, my day in the temple was again of the routine I'd established, though now I was welcomed in the dining hall. That evening, I went out to sell a few items, taking it in cash for my coming shopping expedition. My bed was unusually welcoming.

The next morning, Jaral told me that someone had left a message for me. I read it before lunch, and it was a formal invitation for dinner with Ehlah. Jaral had volunteered to deliver a reply, all snide and smug at my anticipation. I thanked him for his graciousness dryly, and agreed. The afternoon seminar was now becoming more of a study group, researching topics of joint interest. Only four remained. But once we were done for the day, I refreshed myself before leaving.

The restaurant chosen was nearly exclusively of the People, and very fine. Our conversation was more personal, and became slower and no less pleasing. I left a floral gift on her pillow when I had to get back to the temple for the morning seminar.

That evening I returned to my neglected shopping and purchased a number of useful scrolls to add to my spellbook in one shop. And restocked potions at an alchemist. I was studying the magic rings and amulets at a jeweler, and wondering how long I would be 'teaching' lore and spells. There was only a total of five students in both classes, and all but one now was Mystran. I considered stopping to the establishment of Drissui to order more robes, but I wasn't sure if that would be politic. I was getting oddly restless, and more worried about my younger companions. I selected another magicked robe, but almost as an afterthought to my concerns.

Returning to my chambers, I discovered why Jaral had been smug all evening. I had a visitor, sewing contentedly, and then we tested the nimbleness of our fingers again.

I woke to knocking, warning that I was late to the class. Dressing quickly, I saw a long embroidered ribbon hanging from the headboard. Smiling when I arrived, I found the two seniors were not as warm as before, at least to each other. It looked like the male Mystran had committed a major faux pas of some kind, and was aware of it. The lesser students were listening to my lecture with absorption, though I didn't quite hold the elders' attention. It was worse in the afternoon group, as the lesser students were visibly snickering, despite no real overt reason that I had seen.

That did not end well for them, as he ordered them out, his voice crackling with authority and ill consequence. The research then resumed, even though neither of them spoke much to each other, only to me. I could tell we were making progress in the research, though it looked like the result would require the infusion of both arcane and divine power.

The next morning, only the Mystran was in seminar, saying that the classes were being ended. I could stay further, if I could finish the research on the new item and shared it. I agreed, as I quite liked this application of a minor spell. So then the research and debate resumed, though it went slower with just the two of us, she had been the more creative thinker. But no word had been said about her that day, by anyone. I was hoping we could make a prototype tomorrow, but we would each need a scrying device.

That afternoon, I visited more shops, looking for a single spell for sale, and a scrying device. I did not find the scroll, and hoped I could live with the limitations on the crystal ball I found. In the evening I returned to the library and was up all night and into the next day. We were close. We had two prototypes, one that each of us had enchanted. His scrying was going to be by spell, and mine had that distance limitation.

We exchanged the material components and went to differing parts of the temple for the test. I broke his component, and soon felt that I was being observed, while in an empty room. Soon enough, I heard a whispering in the air, and almost a compulsion to do the scrying. Once I did, I saw him looking bored and drumming his fingers in impatience, in what looked to be the laundry. Excellent, it worked, the scrying was much easier and clearer than I would have expected. As I watched, he got bored and began to drift off.

Not my favored form of entertainment, so I began to write up notes of the spells and effects involved. With a smile, I made a second copy for the library, before going into reverie. In a bed, of all places, instead of a laundry.

The next morning we discussed our results, and he said I was free to go. I'd been wondering how long he was going to continue the facade that Etiran was in charge. I asked him of where I could buy scrolls, and was given a list, most of which I'd already found. In a few hours, I found the one I was looking for, and with great regret, a gift.

I recorded the spell in the afternoon, feeling impatient as I did so.

And then prepared for another dinner. I waited a time for her to finish her duties, and she grew solemn when she looked closely at me. We went again to the tea shop.

"I have now been released from my bargain with the temple," I said regretfully.

She returned, with a slight smile, "And you must return home."

"Yes. I am... worried about them, as foolish as some of them are." It was strangely hard to admit even that.

"Your friends, you mean?" she asked with a smirk.

I could only smile with her, and gave her my gift, saying, "I wish it could have been longer, perhaps another year, we can..."

"I would enjoy it. But my time with Drissui will end, and I will start my own establishment with the skills I have mastered."

I understood, she will not be in that attic for much longer. There was no rush, we didn't have to hurry as the humans did. All in the fullness of time.

With one almost scandalous embrace in a tea shop, I slowly left her to her tea.

x x x

The next morning, I had my new spell memorized, and cast it with Jaral in my arms. Once more, I was in the familiar library at the Keep.

There were a few faces missing in the hall, including that one unsavory merchant that the Commander had regretfully allowed in. Kana was not directing the Keep, it seemed Katriona was doing it now. Her surprise at seeing me come from the library was all that I could have wished.

What I did not see coming was Neeshka, who apparently thought I needed to be tackled to make my day complete.

"My dear girl, you have already checked my possessions how many times now? It would be less painful to me, for you to ask, and I will let you paw through them."

"Hells, I was afraid I was the only one to survive. Ivarr keeps avoiding me," she admitted.

Quietly I said, "If you will let me stand, I will tell you what little I know."

She was off me before I even finished the sentence, and Katriona was hiding a smile.

I raised my brows at her, challenging her to think anything of it. The tiefling was as much a creature of impulse as Qara had been, but better hearted, and smarter, more competent, and... well there was no other commonality beyond impulsiveness.

"Well, a Mystran priest confirmed about a tenday ago that all of us through the gate were still living. I'm sure they will try to return here or Neverwinter as soon as they can. We can search for any stragglers, if necessary. But if they are coming from different directions, we should stay at their destination, until there are more of us."

She made a face at that, and Katriona also did not seem pleased.

Katriona said, "I'm sure the city would like a report on the end of the King of Shadows. And might be tempted to reassign command after any long period of absence."

"I see," I said dryly.

I did, it seemed they did not want to have another commander, a testament to the loyalty the Commander had built, despite her frequent frustration. A report directly to Nevalle would probably help slow political problems, but neither the tiefling or I would be accepted as a suitable deputy. I could only hope Casavir, Khelgar, or, of course, the Commander, would return soon.

Catching the Greycloak's eye, I said, "I will assist in any way to ease the continuance. Later today, I will visit the city and hire some public divinations."

Her relief was palpable.

Neeshka said, puzzled, "Today?"

I was smirking, myself, "Yesterday, in Waterdeep, I acquired the spell Teleport. Such a lovely spell."

Wryly, she admitted, "That sounds like more fun than I had, I appeared in a tight spot in Luskan."

She agreed to keep watch for the others here at the Keep, I would wait in Neverwinter.

A few days after my return, an exuberant Grobnar walked into my shop, with another gnome in disguise. An oddity in itself.

The bard probably would have tackled me if he could have, but he was close. I hoped surely Khelgar and Casavir could resist that impulse.

He was a changed gnome, not surprising, when the other scolded even me in an ancient elven dialect. He had been much further away than either Neeshka or I, and could have taken months to get back, so it looked like we were going to have a long wait for everyone to return.


	4. Full Circles: Casavir's Tale

_Many of these characters aren't mine, and if you don't know which characters are owned by others, you need to play the game again. I, too, wish some of those were mine._

x x x

**Parts Unknown - - -**

_- - - Casavir_

"Know that it was the power of the Illefarn revenant that reclaimed this complex from the swamp," Zhjaeve intoned from the floor.

As it often did, it took me a moment to translate that into more common speech.

Even as I had, my Lady Commander began shouting, "Run for his damn gate! We're down too far!"

I was glad to see everyone surviving starting to move, along with ominous rumbling from the dimness of the stone ceiling of the chamber. Khelgar was carrying Zhjaeve. Grobnar was having to make a bigger effort to avoid more of falling rocks. My lady slowed, scooped him up and tossed him towards the glowing arch in the flat of the wall, where he disappeared. The others were still running, but I had slowed to protect her, looking upward with half my attention.

Even so, a boulder the size of my head rolled from the side of my path, nearly tripping me. The rumbling and impacts of ever larger rocks were all around us.

The Commander shouted from somewhere behind me, "Damn it! Keep moving, you idiot! I run faster, but I can't heal Zhjaeve!"

She was only a step behind me, and I could hear her breathing as I leapt through, just after Sand. The githzerai was hurt badly, worse than the rest of us, as she had been the other focus for the king's attacks.

I was ashamed, that I'd had to be reminded of that duty, but so glad to hear the Commander entering the gate just after me.

When my vision cleared, I found myself in what looked to be a small clearing in an untouched forest.

Alone.

No one else was here. No Grobnar, no Khelgar, no Sand, I was the only one of us. Turning, I saw no gate either. Most importantly to me, no Commander.

I sank to my knees in exhaustion, to pray. I didn't know where I was, but that didn't matter. My prayers would reach Him wherever I'd appeared. It looked like my prayers were the only way I could help them now. Closing my eyes, I said a prayer for each of them, worried about their injuries and hoping they'd arrived in some safe harbor.

My throat tight, I did another prayer for her: my commander, my lady, my hopes of something more.

_Great Tyr, we defeated our foe, let it pass, let it pass._

Once I was done, I stood, and looked around the clearing again. It looked to be very old forest, with many trees having truly immense trunks. The daytime warmth was comfortable for this time of year, and there was already fresh, green growth visible, that said I was nowhere near the damaged mere.

Without my even noticing, one of the shadows of the trees had moved out and become an elf, in the same colors as the forest, dull browns, grays, and greens leeched of life, Only a few ribbons or cords showed brighter green or yellow.

"What business brings you here, human?" the elf asked, levelly.

"No business. I was escaping through a gate with my friends, and I appeared here," I said, bowing. "I have no wish to trespass."

Eyes narrowed, the elf almost growled, "Where are these friends of yours? I will not have clumsy and greedy humans harming our forest."

"They did not arrive here as I did, sir," I said, hoping to calm this a bit. "I wish I knew where they were."

After a few minutes of looking at each other, he announced, "Very well, the elders will wish to question you. Follow me."

I found myself lagging behind, even in the short distance it took to reach another massive tree's shade.

He only said, "Stay," before disappearing into the brush.

With a small smile at his phrasing, I settled to clean off, and to check myself. I ached, and still had many small wounds, but the padding had soaked up most of it. I used my last healing potion and last spells. I would probably need a new set of padding. I still had some minor injuries, but time would take care of them well enough. Once I was done with that, I took care of my weapons. Sipping the stale water from the skin, I looked around again. This may be a long wait if this was a purely elven settlement, especially as many did not care to treat with humans. The sunset didn't look that far away, so I decided to remain awake.

Packing up again, I knelt. I thanked Tyr again for his help and protection.

_Great Tyr, the Shadow on the land is gone, let it pass, let it pass._

With one more prayer for the Commander and my lonely hope, I simply meditated for a time.

"Human," spoke the same elf, it seemed.

Looking up, I nodded and stood.

"The elders wish to speak to you," he said again.

Suddenly I noticed perhaps eight elves came out of the trees to encircle me, two of whom looked old, even for elves.

The first elf faded out of sight, and one of the elder ones spoke, "Human, speak truthfully, so to explain why you are intruding in our lands."

I bowed to her, wishing I had learned more about the People and their traditions. "What do you wish to know?"

"How could filthy humans make a gate into a hidden settlement, such as this?" one elven woman asked angrily. "Is this a prelude to yet another slow destruction of our woods in the name of farmers and ticks making a writhing mass in these cities?"

I sighed, "No, ma'am. I have no idea where I am, nor do I wish any harm on you or yours."

"Liar!" shouted a young looking elf. He looked to be my age, likely closer to a century.

"No, I am one of Tyr's hands. I cannot give false testimony," I could feel my voice deepening with offense, and took another breath. "The gate was an old one, recently reactivated, in the remains of an Illefarn space. We only knew it was a chance to escape the collapse."

"Were you in an Illefarn graveyard to explore and loot, human?" the female elf asked.

Shaking my head, I explained, "No, a revenant Illefarn Guardian, now styling itself the King of Shadows was creating shadow armies. It was killing anything living in its path, trying to make a kingdom of shadows, wherever there were once Illefarn lands."

The young male laughed derisively, and started to say something.

But the female elder said a curt command in elvish, and he subsided.

Not knowing their language and custom, made being diplomatic that much more difficult, so I prayed for more tact and patience. As well as the Commander's safety.

_Great Tyr, she won her glory over the beast, let it pass, let it pass._

"Just where did this take place, young paladin?" The older male asked quietly.

"Sir, the Mere of Dead Men. Elanee told us it is also known as Meredelain, I believe."

A wash of stillness swept through them when I said this. Followed by a storm of discussion in elvish. I waited, quietly, trying not to worry. After a time, the discussion ended, and the younger firebrand had been chastised. Beyond that, I could not tell what they spoke on. I discreetly studied them, but could discern little, as they were so closed to me.

Then the questioning began in earnest, when they wanted to know about the Guardian and what he became. They also wanted to know of the battles and skirmishes, and if I would be reporting to any of their people. I mentioned Elanee and Sand to them, and that they both were alive when we escaped through the gate. Some additional questions about both of them, and they seemed to know of her, if not him.

The questions ended once I began to have difficulties staying awake. The elder woman apologized, and I was led to a sheltered spot at the foot of one of the trees.

In the morning, after my prayers, I noticed some wrapped food and a waterskin near me. Once my armor was again in place, the elf who originally met me, led me back to the clearing where some of the elders were still present

A few more questions about the war, and they released me again to the escort of that terse one I'd originally met. He was fuming the entire time he led me to a stream. When asked if I might wash and replenish my waterskin, he snapped something that probably was a curse and waved me to the water, before melting into the trees.

The water was fresh and cool, with enough of a slope that it burbled nicely. After quickly washing, I decided more thorough cleaning would have to wait. Remembering Sand's comments on scents, I suspected I was offensive, but I did not want to travel with everything wet. With the scout-guard's opinion clear, I was sure I would not be allowed to stay long. I mentally marked the stream, following it should lead me to other settlements. After a time, my escort returned and led me back to what looked to be the same clearing, but there were only three there now. The two eldest, and a younger female wearing all browns in the shadows.

The two elders were facing me when I entered the clearing, and my escort melted away again. A short statement from the female elder, and he came into view again. His face had that completely blank look of someone in a rage.

The male elder nodded to me, and said, "We thank you for sharing this news with us freely. What would you ask?"

"I would appreciate any help you would offer to help me to return to Neverwinter," I answered carefully. "I am concerned about my comrades, and do not know if any of the Shadowking's armies are still a threat. Can you tell me where I am?"

Scornfully, my escort said, "This is the High Forest. Perhaps the closest place you may have heard of, is Hellgate Keep."

I shook my head, feeling almost a flash of despair at how far away I was. I could not keep my pledges from here. Saddened, I said only, "I have heard of this forest, but have not really left the Sword Coast." It was late Ches, and I had no idea how long it would take to return.

The female elder added more warmly, "If you are careful and travel swiftly, you may return by Greengrass. We are concerned about this Guardian, that was supposed to have been destroyed. So we will send escorts to help your travel through our lands, and they are to discover the fate of the Guardian's army before they return. Cephirra and... Roncletius will travel as our eyes."

My escort burst out with an objection in elvish, but there was no discussion. Fuming again, he came forward, as did the female who's been in the shadows of the clearing.

When she came out, I realized that she was half-elven. A hard road indeed, with the bias I'd seen here.

It was only late morning still, and they left me briefly and came back with packs, and so our journey began, with that little fuss.

x x x

**High Forest - - -**

The female was Cephirra, and she almost chattered as we walked. Roncletius stayed further away, and I rarely saw him during the day. I'd been startled when a wolf came up to her, but she spoke cheerfully with him as well. It was quickly clear that they both were rangers, but it seemed odd to deal with a cheerful one. As terse as Roncletius was, he still wasn't as bad as Bishop on a good day.

"What was that face about, Casavir?" Cephirra asked.

Regretful I was not controlling myself better in company, I said, "I was remembering someone who betrayed the Commander."

Curious, she asked, "Surely that is his or her wrong to avenge?"

"His actions nearly lost the battle and war. I still don't understand why she ordered us to stand down," I spoke, being careful not to raise my voice.

Cephirra said complacently, "As far as I've heard, Commanders usually have their reasons. Unless she was an incompetent?"

I shook my head vehemently, "No, not that."

The elf made no other comment, and I was glad, as I didn't want to have to admit to a near stranger what I was really feeling. I'd been more than half afraid he got his escape because they'd been lovers. But his rambling later was as much frustration as insane anger, and her face had been frighteningly blank. So I was feeling nearly as guilty for that suspicion, as I'd felt jealousy before. Guilt and a spark of joy that she hadn't chosen him. Sorrow that she hadn't chosen me either.

She'd said this wasn't the time, but that sounded like a compassionate 'no' far too much. Elondra had been only a silhouette against the night sky that night, but I knew she could see me better than I saw her. I knew she was more akin to the night, but it didn't seem that important in the light of her spirit. She had a good heart, and helped the others stay out of trouble. For Neeshka, she usually diverted her with something fun and harmless, like a bet or some copper gambling.

On the battlements, I finally was able to ask her what was in my heart, hoping even, perhaps, to make a more formal declaration at the same time. It came out poorly enough, despite my planning, and my hopes rose a bit as she swayed a trifle.

But that hope was dashed by the gentle 'no' phrased as 'not now.' I didn't need to see her gray eyes to know she wasn't being cruel, I could hear it in her voice and feel it in the very quick hug, before she ran off for a faint call for her from below.

But there'd never been time after that, to ask more, and now I was afraid it was too late. I said another prayer for her, and then for all my friends, as I thought about the great costs of the war while we walked.

_Great Tyr, she paid for the blade in heart's blood, let it pass, let it pass._

The next day, we stumbled upon some bugbears. They weren't that much of a threat, but Roncletius was swearing when he got back, and actually apologized for missing them. Cephirra said something stinging in elvish, and he stayed much closer after that. It wasn't until after that, that I discovered that his companion was a falcon.

I had ample time as we walked to think about more than the final days, and wish I'd spoken earlier.

Another few days, and we were finally out of the forest, generally heading southwest. He had a map with notation in elvish and some symbols I wasn't familiar with. With that I could see we hadn't yet covered much more than a quarter of the distance. We reached another road, but this time, we began to follow it.

"What settlement are we approaching?" I asked Cephirra.

"A place called Yartar," Roncletius answered snidely from behind me. "There is no better crossing of the river, for one with the metal shell you carry."

He had been a bit more respectful after the bugbears. But I was sure it was no coincidence that we arrived in Yartar late morning, with too many hours left until sunset. We passed some trade caravans, and I could hear wild stories about undead destroying Neverwinter, but the traders and guards telling such, had been hushed by their companions for believing idle rumors. I paid our toll at the river, and soon, we left the road again.

I suspected Roncletius thought I would plead for some rest time in the city, but I wished we were traveling faster. Even though the days were getting longer and the farms we would pass were already beginning the new season's planting, I still felt suspended between what I knew and what I feared.

As we traveled longer than daylight, I reached a place of numbness, thinking about very little as we walked, just the necessary work of putting one foot in front of another. I also listened for any hint of trouble, but doubted much would get past my escorts and their companions. In the evenings, when Roncletius would turn us to secluded campsites, I had too much time to worry and pray they all were well.

_Great Tyr, may we sit peacefully in the sun after, let it pass, let it pass._

A few more days of travel, and the land was getting hillier. For the first time in a long time, I truly knew where I was. Cephirra paused, expectantly, and Roncletius appeared from nowhere.

Before he could say it, I did, "Orcs."

He looked surprised.

I added, while preparing to fight, "I fought them in these hills for too many years to miss their smell. How many?"

"Eight, they seem to be a scouting party," the elf snarled.

I called Tyr's blessings upon us as soon as they spotted us. Roncletius fought with an oddly familiar snarl against these orcs, while Cephirra stayed out of close combat. With her companion's help as well, it did not take long to fight them off. One of the older ones, used that name again, of Katalmach.

While checking the elves for injuries afterwards, I realized that name no longer bothered me. I wasn't lost anymore, I knew where I was and who I wanted to be. If the orcs feared me enough to remember, when I was this long gone, they might think more carefully at molesting other travelers. But this place, these foes, were no longer where I wanted to be.

"They seemed to recognize you," Roncletius observed dryly.

I paused in my effort to move the bodies aside, to say, "Yes. Two tribes were establishing a foothold near here, when I came to try to stop that. Eventually they were broken, and the well under threat, freed. I gained that epithet during those years."

"Not bad, for a human. It takes them a long time to recognize and remember a threat," Roncletius said, after looting the corpses. "You didn't mention this in your story to the elders."

"Aside from advisors to stir up their leader, this was not part of the war, a storm warning at most." I admitted. "I had not thought your elders interested in my life story."

With almost a smile, he divided up the few coins and shiny pebbles the orcs had had.

Now that I knew roughly where I was, I was again lost in thought when we resumed our journey. The blight expanding from the mere was not here, so I hoped that meant it had been stopped, perhaps even reversed. I prayed that the darkness had not corrupted the land. And I prayed for my friends, and my lady Commander.

_Great Tyr, may we all find our way back safely, let it pass, let it pass._

That evening, both of the elves were more friendly, asking more about the battles with the orcs, and then the people who'd fought them. Neither of them talkative while walking, in strange to them territory, they did talk more when we camped. A couple days later, I realized we were starting to veer south, perhaps towards Leilon. I also realized Cephirra was watching me too much now.

She was lovely, as all elves seemed to be. And like Roncletius, she was in so many shades of brown, from her hair to her leathers. I suspected she was older than me, but she seemed more like a late teen. I resolved to be more careful, as this would probably pass quietly and with less embarrassment if I ignored it.

Roncletius seemed amused by it, as if he were a favored uncle.

We reached Leilon nearly three tendays after we'd started. It was obvious now, that the blight had not spread. But this time, I suggested that we visit some taverns to gather some news. They were quiet and let me talk.

But I learned little new. Enough people here had seen the edges of the blight, and a few travelers had spread tales of the shadows. But there was no solid information on how the threat was ended. My Lady was mentioned as the general who defended at the Keep, but there was nothing about what happened after that. Just that the blighted area contracted a bit and the undead disappeared or became aimless and easier to defeat.

There were too many rumors about the heroes who valiantly died to stop the menace. I questioned the more egregious rumormongers almost harshly, who would finally admit they didn't know.

Later, leaving on the road to Neverwinter, Roncletius asked, as if idly, "Why didn't you tell them what happened, human?"

Sadly, I said, "I don't really know what happened. I know I survived, but not what happened to the Commander or the others. Nor do I know anything about the blight or any undead left behind. I could only tell them my speculations and hopes, not what happened."

Now that I knew where I was, the bigger question was whether I should stop at the Keep for information or go on to Neverwinter itself. The Keep was two or three days away, Neverwinter the same beyond that. Stopping at the Keep would not add more than a half day to the journey, if I wasn't going to stay. I felt it the best place to start.

As I knew these lands, I was leading more now. They provided food and found us better campsites, but were quiet again, now that they'd heard more about the war.

With each day, some of my prayers had developed into matching my walking pace.

_Great Tyr, let it pass._

When I saw the Keep in the distance, still standing, I gave thanks. I was sure she'd try to return here. Her father, her old friend Bevil, her charge, all would call her back. She would also want to see Duncan, but West Harbor was gone and this was her home now. My heart lifting, I decided I would ask her again. She would not have lied, but told me, if there was no hope for me. She had compassion for too many, to lack it for her friends.

Feeling at last serene, the last few miles and the distance up the switchback seemed a mere nothing.

When a reached the outer gate, I found a now healthy Bevil on duty.

The other guards at attention, he saluted, saying, "Welcome back, Com..." and stuttered to a stop.

My heart sinking, I realized that they didn't know where Commander Elondra was either. At a distance, Cephirra might have looked a little like my lady, brown and lithe. But the Sergeant had known Elondra too long to be fooled more than a few yards away. Cephirra lacked the Commander's swords, had green eyes, and most obvious was her elven heritage.

Finishing the salute, Bevil said sadly, "Welcome back, Sir Casavir. Most of the others are here in the Keep, and Khelgar and Katriona will be anxious to see you"

Entering the Keep, a tired looking Daeghun, paused, and then came up to greet me. Then Roncletius asked him a flurry of questions in intense elvish, and I excused myself. They had found another, whose words they could heed more easily. Daeghun looked as reserved as ever, but both Roncletius and Cephirra asked many excited questions of him.

I hurried into the Keep, where I found Katriona staying in nearly the same place in the entrance hall that Kana had. She was so glad for someone to report to. I received a brief summary of the Keep's status, remembering with a pang, all the times the Commander had been delayed by Kana upon our return. The Keep was secure, and repairs well underway, completion in a matter of months. There had been no increase in banditry, as bandits had taken greater losses from the remaining undead after the battle. Kana had not survived a skirmish shortly after we left, when there were still to many unable to fight for her to stay here. Supplies were holding up well, and most of the civilians had returned for planting and rebuilding.

They'd been hardy enough to come here in the first place.

On and on, no status report had dragged on this long, when all I wanted to do was continue in. I approved her decisions, to her great relief, and told her I had been stranded in the High Forest. I also mentioned the two elves, and that they were just here to learn about the war. I asked her to pass on my request that people cooperate.

She was only slightly more senior than Bevil, and she was commanding the Keep right now. Nothing else could demonstrate how short-handed defenses were, both here and in Neverwinter. She was so happy for more experienced advice, I think she forgot I could really only advise her.

All would be well when the Commander returned, I hoped.

My heart remained heavy when I arrived in the Armory, and saw my friends. They seemed so few now for what we had accomplished. Khelgar, Neeshka, and Grobnar had been apparently playing cards when I came in the open door. Neeshka squealed and tackled me. Standing again, the dwarf and the gnome had not been far behind in their greetings.

I was still getting my back thumped by Khelgar, when Grobnar said solemnly, to my surprise, "Sand is in Neverwinter, waiting there. Elanee and the Commander are alive, according to divinations."

The other two froze, and their chattering stopped.

So began the longest time of my life.

_Great Tyr, she paid for the blade in heart's blood, let it pass._

_Great Tyr, we defeated our foe, let it pass._

_Great Tyr, she won her glory over the beast, let it pass._

_Great Tyr, the Shadow on the land is gone, let it pass._

_Great Tyr, may we all find our way back safely, let it pass._

_Great Tyr, may we sit peacefully in the sun after, let it pass._

_Great Tyr, let it pass._


	5. Duties: Nevalle's Tale

_Many of these characters aren't mine, I hope you enjoy them all._

x x x

**Crossroads Keep - - -**

_- - - Nevalle_

It should have been a bright spring afternoon, but I looked out over the battlements, peering through a day that was was much too dark. Crossroad Keep had held through the attack, barely, despite the damage to the gate. There was more to that, but the Commander Whyntll had left, with her remaining people, to pursue an attack on this would-be king. The sorceress, the tiefling, and the ranger had been noticeable in their absence. All troubling, this late in a war.

They had left in their pursuit when the battle was barely over, and the full death toll still not counted. But the smells and sounds of the casualties could not be escaped. We'd lost at least three of the Nine already, and this could be only the first major offensive. My prayers went out to Tyr and Lathander, that their strike force was successful.

Enough introspection, I had duties to address, and so I looked for the nearest Greycloak. There was a squad near me on the wall, some were wounded but they were still here.

I pitched my voice to carry, and demanded, "Who is your squad leader?"

They looked at each other in momentary confusion, and I was suddenly more disappointed in their training.

One young man stepped forward, and saluted, saying, "Sorry Sir, we were assembled from three squads earlier today, I'm senior."

Returning the salute I said, "Very well. Send one of your men to your senior officer, Kana, I believe. Have her report to me here, as well as the mage apprentice master followed by the senior priest from Tyr's temple when they have a moment."

I was going to have to commandeer the tower to house the remaining Nine and maybe Lord Nasher, the injured would be moved under cover to any rooms not crucial in defense. Well, some rooms would be exempted, I'd order the Commander's and her team's locked, unless we really ran out of room. In a little bit, Kana was the first to report to me, followed by the human mage Arripah, who seemed to have learned some snootiness from the elves. Kana was pragmatic and only listened, though Arripah was more of a problem. He made it clear he did not consider himself to be under my orders.

Exasperated, I was about to order him forcibly removed, possibly from the Keep, when I felt through my feet and then heard a rumbling of an earthquake. But it was clear that it was no earthquake, as the shadow over the keep and the oppressive weight in the very air disappeared. Taking the first clear and clean breath I'd taken since before we left the city, I hoped the pretender had been stopped. Looking south from this height, I could almost see the shadow retreating towards the Mere.

Thanking all the gods, I turned back to my immediate responsibility.

"You will shut your face, mage," I snarled at Arripah. "I don't have time to deal with your territoriality. **You will clear** half of the tower for quarters, and quite probably wards for the injured. Just because its gotten brighter, doesn't mean all of the undead have vanished. As soon as you have given those orders, **you will start** doing divinations. Use a crystal ball, a pool of quicksilver, or, for all I care, kiss your lucky rabbit's foot, but **you will find out** if that darkness is really gone!"

He finally must have realized I was serious, whitened, and fluttered away like an old maiden auntie in lace and powder. I supposed it was to be expected, with ambitious and skilled mages in the Many-starred being away or doing other work like the unexpectedly powerful Sand. With a gesture, I sent Kana off to get better counts of the injured and able bodied, before arranging for proper collection of my brothers' bodies, to hopefully be sent on to Neverwinter for proper burial.

Later I sent Bell and Eth out with a full company, for intelligence and hopefully clean-up, as the shadow had faded completely from anyone's sight. They both were old comrades, as well as distant relatives, and would have no problem with the soldiers under them. I was still having some problems with Arripah dawdling, but I sent Desmon with license to do whatever he wanted, as long as rooms were cleared in an hour. I rarely turned him loose like that, remembering some embarrassing drunken incidents when I was first promoted, but the crazy bastard really didn't care what people thought. Remmons was the only other one of us left, strong and tough enough alone to guard Lord Nasher while inside the Keep itself.

There was only six of the Nine left. I hoped there was six, I still wouldn't know if Commander Whyntll still lived for some days due to travel time.

Bell and Eth made it back intact, though not all of their troops did. There were mobs of undead still in the general area, but they were beginning to wander without the pretender to direct them. That meant we had to hit them before they spread more. Aimless, we could afford to pull more from the Keep, so I sent Kana and Light of Heaven each out with a company under the command of either Desmon or Remmons, while I rejoined Lord Nasher to report.

x x

A few days later, and the immediate area around Crossroad Keep was clear, as were the roads in either direction. Kana, the most senior remaining here had been killed, and Light of Heaven was speaking of leaving in its odd way. We'd gotten reports that there were other problems in the city, and Lord Nasher wanted to return to put them down. It was supposed to have been evacuated, but some may have hidden or snuck back in early. Politically, he had to be back before a majority of the nobility.

So, in less than a tenday, we should be back in the city we'd left, to pick up the pieces. I was to remain here another couple of days, to see if the sergeants could handle the Keep, and follow on to the city. I anticipated no problem, none of the sorties had found any undead in the last day and a half, but I was beginning to fear we'd lost the Commander. I had great respect for her ability to survive impossible missions. She did well enough alone, as under Castle Never, but now she had the help of those others, all likewise competent.

After another two days, there still was no news. Not hearing of a message or messenger in nearly a tenday was becoming disturbing. Leilon was only two or three days away, and they'd been clear of the shadow that same day, according to Arripah's scrying..

I could not tarry here when there was no news, I had duty in the city. I left Katriona in command here and left for the Neverwinter.

Riding out the gate with my squad, during its emergency repairs, I regretted there'd been no one more senior to leave in charge. Unfortunately, a more recent courier had also reported that some of the looting and other property damage had been suspiciously focused on the holdings of certain noble lines. Every officer experienced in city politics was needed there now.

I thought much of the way back, as I needed to recruit at least two more members of the Nine immediately, that meant we'd officially have eight. The ninth was often left empty for politics and reward, but five was far too few.

I mulled over any candidates I knew of, and could only think of four for the two positions I wanted filled at once. Only two of them were from the nobility, which would cause its own problems with dealing the nobles, but we didn't have the luxury right now of waiting. There also wasn't enough competent members of the nobility willing to be neutral when they were sworn to duty.

That thought reminded me of my own family, and their demands, but I pushed it aside. This wasn't the time for personal concerns.

x x

Perhaps because of the increased patrols or evacuations, but we had no difficulties getting back to the city. I sent my escorts to the barracks, and reported immediately to Lord Nasher in his study. Desmon was still with him, and he was reviewing the looting problems and how the hangings were stopping them.

There would be hell to pay once some of the noble lines were settled back in the city, as a few of those hung were connected. That would be a strength and a weakness of members of the Nine not being in the nobility, like Remmons and Whyntll, as they didn't have any of the connections. I just hoped my aunts and cousins didn't get any bright ideas, as I didn't have time to appease their wishes.

But Whyntll and Remmons, a third of us now, were relatively ignorant of Blacklake politics. That was not a good thing.

I was only half listening to Desmon's report when one name he mentioned caught my attention.

Desmon's voice was getting flat with exhaustion, as he said, "... and after the Lieutenant's body was recovered when that mob moved on, I sent a couple of people with it back to the barracks to arrange for notification of Ormane's relations, and appropriate burial. We caught up with the mob near the docks, many of them still bloody from their deed. The rest will still need to be questioned to sort out any ringleaders for trial, but several died resisting, and a couple were summarily executed under martial law."

Damn! Ormane was one of my four candidates, now three.

Nasher raised a hand, and asked me, "What seems to be the problem, Nevalle?"

"I am sorry to have interrupted his report, my Lord. I have been considering our needs to recruit more to serve in the Nine, after our recent losses," I said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, Ormane was one of that small pool."

"I see," Lord Nasher allowed, and waved Desmon to continue.

Forcing myself to pay more attention, I learned that most of the problems were in the merchant and docks districts, as the nobles had left fair contingents of guards in their mansions. Blacklake was then quiet, as they were all pretending to be gone. The good thing is that they would be defending the places they were hiding in.

I said, "We should lighten the Greycloak presence in Blacklake a bit, and move them to the more affected areas."

"Do whatever you want, Captain," Desmon said with a tired grin, "Hells, order them to use green paint as bootblack if you want. The command's yours again as soon as I finish my report."

Lord Nasher's only response to that disrespect was a faint smile.

Desmon stumbled off after that, most likely to grab some sleep in the Nine's watch room, near the throne room. I reported my lack of news about Lady Commander Whyntll's absence, and that the undead roaming south of the Keep seemed to be destroyed now. Next, I listed the remaining candidates for the two positions I wanted to fill immediately, to learn if he had any opinions or objections to them. He had none, and after only a small bit of discussion about political repercussions of this war, he retired to be with his Lady wife Amira.

I kept watch at his door for several hours with a senior 'Cloak, after checking his room. I didn't really expect anything, the Luskan delegation along with several others had fled the city well before the evacuation. At midnight, Desmon spelled me so I could sleep.

x x

Within a few more days, lawlessness had ended, and people were steadily coming back into the city. On one patrol through the Docks, I saw that the _Flagon_, owned by Whyntll's uncle, was officially openagain, although I'd seen wisps of smoke before that. Entering, the air in there was much cleaner than was the norm for the near dive, but the half-elf was industriously pretending to wipe an almost clean counter with that dirty rag.

"You wouldn't happen to have heard anything about your niece, innkeeper?" I asked, trying discreetly to avoid touching anything.

Duncan's face falling was enough of a warning that his worried, "That, I haven't Captain," was not a surprise.

"If you hear anything of her, or the rest of her companions who may have survived," I demanded, "Send it on to me, at the Castle, immediately."

Narrowing his eyes, he said with an insolent edge, "Of course, Sir, would there be anything else yer Lordship would like me to do?"

After glancing at the half-elf's trophy collection on the wall, I added, "That is sufficient. I would know what happened, as soon as possible."

"Very well, I will send news as soon as I hear about her," he said more neutrally.

I rejoined my squad outside, and finished my patrol. The ship from Waterdeep was expected any day now, and I wanted to be in court. Dismissing my squad once I reached the family mansion, I was dismayed to hear a couple of my aunts' voices calling for their maids. I had hoped they would stay longer with my cousins in Waterdeep, but duty ever drove my family and they were determined, too.

Sighing, I climbed the steps to visit the elder, Beri. Faney was more of the follower, and I might be able to talk her around, if Beri wasn't here. The problem was, that Beri would be quite willing to call in more assistance, including my mother, if she wanted. This game had already gone on for several years, about half of the time since I'd been promoted, and Beri became convinced I would not marry and provide the family with an heir before getting myself killed.

I never could convince her that I was rarely at risk.

Straightening my tunic by habit, as if I were still a teen, instead of Captain of the Nine, I had to smile at myself. Then I knocked.

"Come," came in her strong voice. Belying her voice, she looked more frail, with her hair mostly silver and thinning now, looking nice with the mauve of her gown. But her hazel eyes were still as sharp as I remembered from my boyhood, when she said, "Ah, there you are, young man. What happened to that groundskeeper I hired? The lawn looks terrible."

Kissing her offered cheek, before turning closer to the window, I admitted, "He is with the rest of the staff, still at the hunting lodge, until the city is secure."

"When will the city be secure, young man? You've been using variants of that excuse for years now," she glared at me briefly before adding, "an excuse to avoid your duties to your family."

The kid gloves were off already. "Aunt, the city is verifiably not secure, if it is still under martial law. You should not have come back this soon. My duty to the city and Lord Nasher, does not allow me to indulge in frivolous activities or partisan politics."

"What about your duty to the succession?" she asked ringingly. "Or will you put it off until it is too late, as it begins to seem Lord Nasher has, as well?"

Stepping closer, I warned her, "Do not even speak it. His health is good, and wife young enough."

Shaking her head, she remained on her cushioned seat, but said, "I would not speak it in public. But I remember the chaos of the city before he came to power, and would not want the same again. Nor even in a lesser degree for our family if you fail to sire an heir."

"My two cousins are quite competent, and already handle most of the family interests between them," I objected.

"That is quite probably most of the problem, boy. They both want it, and are both able. As long as you coast along, they will not turn to other ambitions." Her voice was harsh when she added, "While we all were safe enough in the late war, I'd wager you weren't. If you had died, there would have been a war over who would be head of the family, hurting all of us. At least marry, so they realize they must tend their own futures. Marry, and then choose an heir, before ignoring the problem gives us a disaster."

I could hear a crack of doom in her words, but so help me Tyr, there was a truth in them.

Sighing, I said, "Very well. I will consider it, but I will not be derelict in my sworn duty, even if I agree."

Nodding, as she hadn't gotten even this much cooperation before, she waved her arm, so her maid could come in with a basin of warm water. I said my farewell, and went back to my room, trying not to seethe.

Looking out on the lawn, it showed more than a mere tenday's worth of neglect, with only minimal plantings. My valet, who'd served briefly during the Luskan war, returned to the estate after he'd lost most of his hand. Tane's understanding of my necessities had been very soothing over the years, and now he only softly inquired if I planned to refresh myself before returning to Castle Never. I agreed, and stood by the window thinking, while he brought the bath in and soon containers of hot water.

I considered my cousins, Nalad and Maust. Between the two of them they oversaw the family's properties and business interests. Nalad, she was a trifle better at trade, and already had a young son, Rhodar, now past toddler. Maust was only engaged, and the ceremony would most likely be delayed by the recent war, but he was a better steward to the various properties and had more connections with the other families. Either had more skills than I, now. Both may be assuming they would be heir.

At minimum, I would have to make a serious appearance of looking for a courtship, before selecting one of my cousins. I was reluctant enough. I'd briefly caught the attention of the other matchmakers when I'd been promoted, especially after my father had already died from the Wailing Death as well as so many others had. But the chaos then, prevented their full attention. But worse than their full attention, was my mother's almost glee that she was free to leave Neverwinter. I had somehow missed it before then, but she had little affection nor care for my father.

Only then, did I realize that the only time I'd seen them together for a long time, was for events related to myself. I had seen enough of arranged marriages getting nasty among my friends and classmates. But it had not seemed to affect me. My mother had taken less than a month to move to visit other relatives in Waterdeep. In public, she grieved. In her quarters, she sang.

I wanted a partner, at minimum for duty, if I had to marry at all.

Sinking into the warm bath with a sigh, I thought about how much my aunts would love to find me a wife. All of the young women my aunts had managed to sneak introductions to me over the years, were presentable enough. Dressed well, spoke agreeably, and hunted through the eligible men like prize livestock. Predators, the lot of them. I wasn't sure just how I would find someone else, more acceptable.

Cleaner, and in a fresh uniform, I returned to the Castle. Soon the my many duties absorbed me again, to my relief.

x x

After a few more days the city was getting back to normal, martial law would end tomorrow, unless there was some emergency. I'd sent out some inquiries and discovered that the priest Kimada had joined the gods when the caravan she'd been with had been attacked by undead. They'd been turned back, mostly by the power of her faith in Ilmater, but she had not destroyed all of them before she died. That left me no choices left, the other two candidates had survived the war. My inquiries had shown both were competent, loyal, and not caught up in politics.

Once I'd met Ekkar and Lalton, I was fairly certain they'd be good choices, and started them working with, and shadowing Desmon and Bell. In a couple tendays, if the others agreed with me, they'd be sworn in

But then I'd gotten a note delivered on atrocious paper, that Sand and the little gnome had returned to the city, but no one else. Hurrying to the elf's potion shop, I found him in what smelled to be a freshly scrubbed shop.

"Sand," I asked carefully, at first, "What happened? What news do you have of the Commander? How many survived?"

Looking tired, the elf told me, unusually tersely, "Amidst great feats of weapons work and magic, the King of Shadows and his minions were defeated and destroyed. Being well underground, we escaped the collapse through a gate to very different locations from the first three known examples. I do not know where the others came out of the gate, only that the tiefling, the gnome, and myself have made it back to this area, thus far. Divinations say that the Commander, Casavir, Elanee, Khelgar, and Zhjaeve are alive. The other two are at the Keep waiting further word, while I will wait here. End of report."

I asked a few more questions, but he did not seem to know that much more, and did not want to speak of other speculations. Usually he went on and on, no matter what the topic, so it must have been bad. I could not force answers, if he didn't know. I would not force answers, if even the snide elf was silent on the battle. There was no need to force news about the battle, if the pretender and his forces were destroyed. Sand's judgment could be trusted. I'm sure I could learn more from the bard, at least, he was always a cheerful and guileless soul.

x x

Dissatisfied to know more, and yet not enough, I returned to the castle to report to Lord Nasher. He was again polishing his old campaign sword and shield in his study.

Lord Nasher was not pleased at such minimal news either, at least I had more pleasant news to report on about Ekkar and Lalton, and their progress in training.

After I was done, he asked, "Was there something else bothering you these days, Nevalle?"

"It does not concern Neverwinter or my sworn duty," I said, hoping he would let it go so I could get back to work.

"That was not the question," he said sternly, "and well you know it." Looking at me closely, he added, "The city seems secure enough for the moment, and your trainees progressing well. The only thing that might distract you at this time might be family duty..."

Something in my face must have admitted to this, as he continued after a long pause, "So it is. I cannot say I am surprised, as you are about the age I was, when I began to get polite pressure. However, I am loathe to relinquish your assistance, especially now, when we have been weakened again."

Indignant, I said shortly, "No, My Lord, I would not desert my post."

Lord Nasher was quiet as he finished with the rags, and returned his mementos to the wall. "All things pass, Captain. I believe you should not wait as long as I, before attending to it. I know that there is a storm coming, once the nobility has enough leisure to remember my years. I would prefer to have your full support then, without distraction."

"I understand, Sire. I am considering it, but I do have competent heirs, and no dire need," I assured him.

My situation is far different than his had been after the war with Luskan, and he needed to placate nobility and brace alliances. I only had irritated relatives. Though I wondered, finally, if my distaste for his wedding was also coloring my opinions. Then his comment about storms sank in.

"My Lord, has there been a problem I need to know about, and address?" I asked, worried.

"Not yet," he admitted, with a grimace. "But there will be, and probably there will be demands I put Amira aside. I was lucky to find affection in one arranged match, and I will not throw it away, thank Sune and Tymora. But I, no, we must prepare. I'd had hopes that Naerlan might have been the answer after things had quieted with the Luskans, as a contingency years ago, but we seem to be having a problem keeping our Heroes. But anyone brought in, without blood connection to the nobles, had better have a reputation to keep them in line. How does one discreetly shop for a ruler with fidelity?"

Lord Naerlan would have been an excellent alternative, but he had disappeared after the Luskan war. I don't even believe he'd ever toured the lands granted to him before he was gone. He had been in the forefront of defending the city, and few of the nobility would have crossed the irritable Hero. Gone long enough, the lands and property had been officially returned to the city rolls.

That last came out of Lord Nasher in a sad whisper, but then he shook himself, and said, "But that is a problem for another day, another year, I pray. Your problem is much more easily addressed, especially once your trainees are sworn."

Feeling bleak, I asked, "Is that an order, my Lord?"

Startled, Lord Nasher met my eyes, and said, "Hells, no! I would not wish that on anyone. It is just advice from a friend, not your Lord."

"Even with the trainees, we are effectively only Seven. My only other prime candidates died, of late, so I know of no others unless we want to tap others without a proven history of loyalty," I said flatly.

After a silence, he said, "Then we shall have to contrive for a time, and pray some other option reveals itself." With that he turned to his desk to examine the notes his secretary left and waved me off.

x x

Within the next tenday, Lalton and Ekkar were sworn in, bringing us up to seven. The dwarf Khelgar had also returned by sea. He would have been a very good choice to replace Caleb, especially as he was known in Tyr's temple as well. Unfortunately, I'd heard a persistent rumor and confirmed it with Sand, that he was now clan chief or maybe even king, depending on how you perceived the Ironfists. Neither Sand nor Sir Casavir had clean enough reputations to satisfy the nobility, and the rest of that group was just out of the question. I would have to start studying more of the reports on young officers who had distinguished themselves of late.

Now and then, I sometimes had a few hours to myself, to think. One warm afternoon, I took a small bottle of wine up to the highest tower of Castle Never, and settled to think.

There wasn't anything I could do to help my Lord, his problem had almost surely reached intractable. Mine was at a much earlier stage, and I could still find some acceptable solution.

Closing my eyes to the glorious view over the city, I realized that I was too much a man of duty to continue to shirk this one. But damn, it felt like I was auctioning up what tiny bit of life I had beyond my duty to the city.

But I would. It was my duty, after all.

After a few minutes, thoughts again ticked through me, as I tried to reconcile this to what I saw as my greater duty. I certainly didn't want to go the full social route, becoming prey to far too many of the noble and greater merchant families. But some would pick up on any change, which may convince my cousins to make other plans if my aunt was right. Small events, brief appearances, neutral stance, I could do this. I'd have to.

I went down to the Nine's watch room some time after I'd finished the bottle, and drafted a note, sealed it, and sent it to my aunt.


	6. Freefall: Bishop's Tale

_Most of these characters are only on loan, we're not allowed to keep them. Drat. Language warning, among other possibly offensive things._

x x x

**Mere of the Dead Men - - -**

_- - - Bishop_

I had laughed at the irony when we traveled to the Mere, I would be killing them with the powerful magic weapons the uppity bitch Captain of the Crossroads Keep had bought me, especially for the undead at the bridge, so few days ago. But those arrows would strike just as surely against her and her lover. I was glad I had been fully supplied, and bonehead certainly did nothing to equip us. Not that I cared if the others lived, but I'd have less time to strike without the distractions from their attacks on the fools.

Entering the dying Mere, I heard a howl behind me.

Looking back, I saw that Karnwyr had stopped in the last area of almost healthy looking land, by a tree with wilting leaves. I whistled, and gave the hand signal to come on up, and he sat down.

He wasn't panting like he was tired. I looked again, and he had no injuries.

"Come on, Karnwyr! We're going hunting!" I hissed.

He stood again, and whined, but didn't come any closer.

Now getting pissed, I said, "Furball, get over here!"

He kept looking at me, peed on the tree and went back the way we'd come.

I blinked, not quite believing what I'd just seen.

From beside me I heard a laugh, as the bitch sorceress said, "Oh goodie, target practice!" and then she started a spell, that I'd heard before. It didn't take a genius to guess what kind of spell.

In an instant, my sword was at her throat, "One more sound, you twit, and you won't have a throat," I growled.

Said little twit wanted to fry me, but even my wincing from an injury would probably finish the job. She'd never put any thought into her defenses, why she'd so rarely gone on any missions. Deeply stupid was a death sentence, out in the real world. I didn't care if she lived, and I think she finally saw it in my face.

I waited until I was sure Karnwyr was out of range. I wouldn't chain him, for all I was angry right now. Then I carefully stepped back.

"You scruffy bastard prick! He'll warn them!" Qara screeched at volume.

Deeply stupid. "He's a wolf, who's he going to tell?" I told her with a tight smile.

"Hey, you two, Garius wants you moving," Neeshka came back, and said to us flatly.

I didn't think she liked Qara either, proving she was brighter.

We continued on, with the tiefling in the lead, and I in the rear. Normally, I would have enjoyed the view, but I knew both of these women and didn't care.

Nothing threatened us, though I passed large numbers of undead, while we were going down into the ruins. It seemed odd enough that they weren't attacking us, just watching as we went by. Strangely, both Neeshka and Qara slowed up a little, so we were closer together. Eventually we arrived in a cavern, where we were to wait for any survivors.

Garius thought there wouldn't be many. Qara was positively gloating about looting after they all were dead, especially Sand. I crouched to rest a while, noticing the tiefling rolling her eyes. Neither Qara nor Garius really knew these people. As much as I hated the paladin, for all his shiny goodness, and... the captain, I doubted there would be any serious injuries.

Sure enough, after several hours, they all arrived, looking only a little worse for the wear. Taunts and threats were traded with Garius, while we were still concealed in the shadows. I could look at her, at them, and I was getting angry again.

Enough with the stupid-ass paladin, and his damn gloating, without even looking like it. Still only a step or so away from her, his oh-so-perfect lady-bitch. I'd really wanted to kill either one of them first, and then seeing all of them dead so I could piss on their bodies. That was the only reason I'd managed to tolerate bone-for-brain as long as I had, looking forward to seeing the paladin and dwarf dead in front of me. The only reason I managed to restrain myself from killing the little bitch sorceress a dozen times already. At least the tiefling had been quiet, though I'd been originally surprised she was even there. But they'd both be good for a distraction, slowing the others enough for me to more quietly kill them.

But Garius called us out, and the others' reaction was quite amusing. I could feel my smile freeze on my face, as the captain's face froze as well. Face blank, she questioned me, and I was surprised when I explained things I'd rather forget. All her lackeys bristling, I could see that the paladin wanted to attack me right then. But she leashed him with only a few words.

Then there was an eternal moment of silence, and with a wave, Garius said snidely, "How touching, finish them."

This, I'd been thinking about for quite some time, now. It really came down to deciding just who was the biggest threat to me. It really was between the sorcerer and the mage, and I was sure Qara would be attacking the mage. Neither the paladin or captain could attack effectively until they closed. Sure enough, the dwarf and that cold gith were dealing with the tiefling, and Qara was showing off her so-called great power on Jerro and Sand. The druid and bard were doing support magics, not important in the short run.

Garius demanded, "Attack servant, enough of your petty mewling!"

"I am no one's servant," I reminded him, despite the wave of chill rolling from the undead general.

"You are either His Majesty's servant, or His thrall. Choose, ranger," the undead said coldly.

Unexpectedly, the captain asked, "Great choices, eh, Bishop? I never made that kind of demand or threat."

Another wave of cold came out of Garius, and his voice echoed when he said, "Attack slave."

I noticed Jerro had decided to turn away from the other two fighting, towards me, and snarling at both him and Garius, I sent my first arrow into the greatest immediate threat, him.

Even as I was doing so, their captain asked, "Hope you like being his slave for the rest of your life, and beyond."

An incoherent screech from Qara, and from that end of the cavern came an immense wave of heat and flame, engulfing the mage and Jerro, but the rest were only on the edges of the blaze. Garius only laughed at the immolation of the sorcerers and mage.

To the hells with it, he was enjoying their deaths. He had more bodies to make more slaves. Not me, not mine. I could hear a chant from the paladin, but it was irrelevant this instant. Pulling one of the arrows I hadn't used at the bridge, I shot Garius with it. I was surprised when the arrow entered his eye socket, and a wave of blue fire rippled out from the skull and the bones collapsed like a puppet.

Not so surprised that I didn't hear that damn paladin lumbering my way.

"No one chains me," I said, before running for the entrance.

The paladin did not pursue me further, after she pulled on his leash, and I had to laugh at him as I ran out. If they survived, I could always hunt them down later. But it would be on a ground of my own choosing, where I had the advantage. That was the problem, I could kill them any time, there was no rush. Rushing, only got me being forced to tolerate that clueless sorceress. Hurrying out of someone else's chosen field of combat, I thought they might even win against the king and his slaves, only to find me waiting outside.

Passing through the chambers and halls on my way to fresher, freer air, I realized this whole thing had been a stupid idea. Hunting down the paladin would be so easy. His bitch would be harder, as she could make herself hard for even me to spot her. And she only rarely stepped between shadows, so tracking her should only be a little harder. Smiling, I was looking forward to the challenge.

I'd gotten only a hundred yards outside, when I felt the ground shake. A strange inrush of breeze, and the afternoon seemed a little brighter. The fools must have won.

Now I would get my reward for tolerating the captain, and then the stupid sorceress, I could just wait for them to emerge. Pick them off, one by one, saving her for last. Maybe even save a hank of her hair, just so I could smell it again. Kill them while I was wea... NO! Kill them while they were injured and weary.

So, I found a good place for an ambush in moments, close to the entrance, but not too close. There was even a good low height trail to fall back and attack from another direction. No sooner than I had settled, the ground shook again. The only reason I didn't fall, was because I was already prone. This quake was much worse, and with almost a belch, the ground at, and beyond the entrance collapsed downward.

I could only stare at the hole and rubble where they never came out.

My throat hurting for some unknown reason, I waited for perhaps a candlemark, before creeping closer. The entrance was just as much rubble, as was what had to have been the cavern where the battle had been. Nothing had come out. It was over, and they all were dead.

I didn't feel as free as I'd expected.

Not sure why, I made camp within eyesight of the entrance. The light got gradually brighter even as the rest of the day passed. All I had was rations, there was no animal life and no plants looked safe to eat. By sunset, I'd dozed off several times, expecting to hear, dreaming I'd heard, something. By morning, Karnwyr had come back, and I woke up a little warmer, and he licked my face.

He obviously wanted to leave this dead area, and I really didn't care.

x x x

Not knowing where else to go right now, I decided to go back to Neverwinter. I certainly wouldn't go back to the Flagon, but there were plenty of other places for me to stay. I still had plenty of money left from my share of the treasure.

That was oddly empty now. I told myself it was because I hadn't gotten the chance to see the paladin dead, and booze and some whores would take care of that restlessness.

I circled around some large patrols of Greycloaks, and I could see the Keep was still operational. Even so, I wouldn't be returning there. That wasn't a problem, as I could easily afford to replace any equipment I'd left there. Once I was close to Neverwinter, I remembered the evacuations. That wasn't a problem either, sneaking in was easy, and I had no difficulty finding a covertly open inn further from the Flagon. One that was full service if even less than sparkling.

They knew me, if not by name. So I gave the owner a large deposit, and had Karnwyr to watch the rest of my things while I began what I planned to be an impressive debauch. Food would be delivered, but furball ate almost all of it. Drinks would be delivered, and I drank most of that. The whores would be delivered, and I had most of them, unless we'd had too much of the alcohol. I screwed them, and slept with some, and listened to some of them, until I snarled that I didn't want to hear about their personal lives or petty concerns. They got quieter, then, but I was paying well in a city still light with other customers. Days later, some of them got more annoying, and I requested others. But a tenday passed in a pleasing haze of sex and drinking.

In a rare moment of clarity one morning, I was about to send another one away, even though she was quite skilled and agreeable, when I realized she was the only brunette left in the stable here, and she had very light blue eyes. All that were left for me to screw, were blonds and redheads. This was the last who resembled the missing captain at all, and she looked like Her the most. So instead of sending her off, we fucked again, roughly, until I passed out.

Waking again the next morning, I found myself brushing hair off her face while only half-awake. Shaking myself, I took a deep breath, and despite the musk from our activity, the smell was wrong.

Even as I realized this, Karnwyr nosed my ass, so he could go out.

I needed to kill something, and what better things to kill than some nice healthy Luskans? I'm sure I could find some somewhere. I threw on some clothes, and finished packing my things. I left a tip for the whore, and paid my bill; I was out of the city in less than an hour.

It felt good to be out of Neverwinter, so I headed north to Port Llast and areas along the border. Prowling on this side of the border, visiting the village inns every few days for rumors about Luskans, I heard mostly about the missing heroes of the Crossroads Keep.

I had to save my laughter at that for later, as the rumors were so full of crap. But I enjoyed being the last alive to have seen them, and I would keep that secret for myself.

Finally, I did hear about a group of Luskans, here on the wrong side of the border and already getting into trouble. Open season for me.

It took a bit over a tenday, but I found them. Camped not too far from some small farming village, watching it, staying well out of the view of the villagers. So I started picking them off. It was a young group of Luskans, almost all with clean and new markings and tattoos. I got two of them, from a range. The other two went down easily by blade. One actually lived long enough to see my faded tattoo, and his confusion made it that much easier to kill him.

I carefully searched the bodies, retrieving some healing salves, some notes, and a new codebook. How entertaining. Idiots must be running training now.

Taking the rest of the day, I made it to the second closest village. Collapsing into the bed in my room at the inn, I slept the best I had in a long time.

It only took me the next day to figure out the new ciphers, they weren't that different than the ones I'd learned. The inn's blousey wench was a good enough lay the second night. But the notes gave me direction for my next hunt.

Another few days and I began to talk more to Karnwyr at night, just to hear a voice once in a while. Sometimes it seemed he understood me, but no, I got stuck with a defective companion. It seemed somehow to match the rest of my life.

Aside from that one time in the Mere, he stayed with me. I even asked why one morning, but he just looked at me with his head cocked, not that I really expected an answer.

The coolness of spring was fading into the warmth of early summer, and camping alone was so much easier than it had been before with all of them. The only problem was now at night. Too many nights I'd dream about her, the Knight Captain Elondra, of the shadows, like me. The one I hadn't screwed. The one I'd seen with her arms around the fucking paladin, after he'd finally gotten the balls to speak up. In some nightmares, they pronounced judgment on me, and I was hung in front of jeering soldiers and woke up cold as ice. In dreams that were worse, I found her waiting for me in one of the village taverns with a familiar wicked smile on her face. From those dreams, I woke up warm and feeling lazy, until I realized the body beside me was Karnwyr's.

Elondra'd once said, she might take me up on the camping offer someday, but someday never came. That damned paladin did. Him, I wished had survived, just so I could pound his face in. A paladin of fucking Tyr and a rogue? Losing his shiny, special magics would make him that much easier to pound.

Angry again, I went hunting and found another group of Luskans. They really were being stupid, this group wasn't even smart enough to confront me, they let me pick the ground and take them out one by one. I never had to switch to swords.

Again and again, I'd hunt another bunch, getting some clues, some healing, a few coins, but never what I'd been looking for. I wasn't sure what that was. Then I'd relax for a few days or as long as a tenday. I got tired of the village wenches, but Neverwinter was now out of the question, as it had looked mostly normal by the time I'd left. It was only a matter of time before the reports of any surviving Greycloaks should make the city as stupid a place to go as the Keep. Port Llast was too confining, I couldn't even sleep there. At least killing Luskans was still entertaining.

Some nights I'd talk to Karnwyr, talking about Elondra's questions I'd never answered, and wondering why I hadn't asked more questions myself. Not that it mattered now. The pup didn't care, he still slept close to me, nights we were outdoors, somehow better than the doxies.

I found little had any importance to me, just about the only thing I enjoyed now was killing the Luskan agents. I'd gotten a couple footpads outside Port Llast, but they weren't as much fun. Drinking helped fill more days. So I drifted along, day after day, month after month, into high summer.

The Luskan groups were getting larger, I suspected someone had noticed my activities. The groups were getting fewer, and harder to defeat. It didn't bother me that much, I didn't have anything else I wanted to do. The last group had a crumpled and faded schedule for missions on some stupid kid, most of which were over, and I'd believed all eliminated. The last in the schedule was in a tenday.

It could be a trap, and I could feel a snarl form on my face. That didn't matter, it just meant there'd be more of them for me to kill.

So, I dawdled, and found the next team right on the stupid schedule. It wasn't an ambush of me, but the assassin leading the team was unusually competent for her age, and the combat was a bit dicey. I told Karnwyr to stay out of it, I didn't want him risking the poison I expected. I was bleeding from several annoying wounds when I staggered away after finishing the team leader and looting.

All I needed was a place to collapse, I was so gods damned tired of it all...


	7. Hearthwarden: Duncan's Tale

_Many of these characters aren't mine, and used only on loan. Language warning._

x x x

**Neverwinter, _Sunken Flagon_ inn - - -**

_- - - Duncan_

I wouldn't have wanted to have admit it, but it had gotten boring again, once my niece and her crew had moved their base to that old Keep beyond the city. They brought a breath of fresh life to my inn, despite the risk of it being burnt from that Qara.

Perhaps a little too much like my brother, in that I'd gotten too comfortable in mourning what I had lost, back in West Harbor and before. While I hadn't lost myself in the Mere and a stiff upbringing for a baby girl, I had become a shadow of my earlier self. I served the drunks and laborers, who didn't care what I was, as long as the ale was strong and the watch stayed away. I'd lost myself in many a keg of ale, after those final losses of our friends in that battle in that tiny village.

Not even an adult yet, by pure elven standards in those days, I could not face adventuring any longer, even though I still looked like almost a teen by human standards. But even a teen with enough money can buy a failing inn in the Docks district, and drink himself into a stupor every day, as long as the ale kept flowing.

Even with the money I'd had, I didn't have enough for a more respectable place in another district. I'd had enough of a shady reputation, from some of my earlier adventures and friendships with some of the Bloodsailors, to get anything better. I had always disappointed Daeghun, as he'd hoped, in that restrained way, that I'd be an honest man, preferably a ranger, like him and many of our kin. But I'd picked up a few rogue tricks as well as I'd been arrested a few times with my friends, and he'd gotten me out. Silently disapproving.

While that reputation hadn't been a problem while we were exploring some dungeon or some old keep, he was always clear he was disappointed in me, even during one of his rare visits to Neverwinter over the last decade.

It was still somewhat of a shock when I'd learned he had not told his foster daughter that he'd had a brother, earlier. I hadn't thought I was that much of a disappointment.

I still didn't know if it was his upbringing or lack of warmth, that sent Elondra down similar roads as me. Unlike me, she'd stayed out of the gangs, but she used the shadows like her friend Neeshka. She was still more a warrior.

I'd been pleased when she'd attracted the attention of that paladin, Casavir. I'd never been happy Bishop was interested, as well, and I was afraid his interest was just to spite me. But nothing seemed to come of either of them, as her opponents, rewards, and responsibilities kept growing. But with that lot always around the _Flagon_, my sadness about my friends' deaths and my sister-in-law's, finally faded, and ale didn't attract me as much.

Even Sal got carried along in her wake, to finally start an inn of his own in her Keep. I provided enough ale for him to get started, and I'd heard Elondra'd found a dancer or singers to help keep her troops happy. I really could not see Lord Nasher doing that for his troops here.

Here was too quiet these days, as it seemed another war was gathering, a war with armies of undead, with my too young niece in the forefront. And strangely, my brother attached to her Keep, in an odd reversal.

There was talk about evacuating the city, but I wasn't sure where most of these people would go. There really weren't any secondary cities nearby, one of the larger towns was Port Llast. Further from the tainted Mere, but I didn't think Luskan was any less tainted.

Perhaps I would take a page from my niece, and hide.

x x

It seemed only days, and somehow years, as panic started and people were packing up to flee before the official order even came out. My custom had already shrunk, and the port was closing, taking most of the sailors with the last ships out. The people remaining were already getting desperate, as thievery and looting became an issue even as more people packed to go.

I sent my small, and mostly new, staff with a retired Greycloak I knew to a village in Neverwinter Wood to the north. It was away from the path of where most refugees were going, but there were additional forces and powers that claimed Neverwinter Wood as their own. I suspected any army of undead would have more trouble there than they anticipated, as a treant was much more a problem than a field of wheat.

I? I was going to stay here. Here, to protect the only object of value I had. Here where I could hear quicker what was happening to my niece. Here, perhaps to see if I could still defend anything but a moneybox. But this was my home, as ramshackle as it was. I prepared a hidden cellar, with food, bedding, and a continual flame. Otherwise, the _Flagon_ appeared closed, but I kept a back entrance carefully open for any regulars, even though the main doors were boarded shut along with the windows. Nevalle passed by, approving, when I helped pack up a neighbor to go. It looked like he thought I was going too.

Within another day, the city seemed mostly empty. In the wee hours I traveled around the district and saw only a few heat sources, that pure humans would not have noticed.

In the morning the rising sun barely brightened the inn, even through the boards. Looking out one of the tiny windows under the eaves, everything looked dark, especially to the east. This continued all day, seeming worse as the day progressed. Even tracking the time was harder, as the dimmed light made it hard to judge, and watch bells, ships bells, even the odd clock tower had all gone silent.

The day grew dimmer, and I began to pray to Tymora that my niece Elondra and her companions would succeed and get out alive.

I heard a watch patrol go by and force march one family out of the city, so I retreated to my hiding room after locking and barring the back entrance.

That night I spent feeling full of dread, and proceeded to get shit-faced down in my hole. I could feel the weight of impending doom over everything here, and wondered how bad it was where they were.

Waking late, and painfully sober, I went back up to the door and let a few old friends in to drink the gloom away a little.

But I didn't drink, waiting for something, while praying occasionally to several gods, Tymora, the Morninglord, Sune, and even Tyr, hoping one of them would help them.

Finally, late afternoon the doom seemed to fade a little, and the others drinking all started speaking louder. I had to hush them, reminding them of the evacuation.

By the next day, I had enough people find their way through the almost normal daylight, that I hired a young lad, Dryncer, to watch the door. He'd lived very close all his life, and knew all the locals, despite his wildness, so he could identify who to let in.

His family had fled to Waterdeep and he'd jumped ship for a grand adventure. Watching desperate people get quietly drunk wouldn't seem as much of an adventure, especially once he'd had the chance to clean up after one. I wasn't planning to deny him his adventure.

Half a tenday after the doom faded, a few had snuck back into the city, telling about all the villages away from the Mere being horribly overcrowded. As one of the few places open, I was quite busy, though I still sent up prayers for my niece.

There still had been no news, not even from her Keep.

The rest of that tenday, Lord Nasher returned, as well as more people sneaking back.

Young Neeshka got back the same day as Nasher, before the gates were even officially open.

But she had no current news, all she could tell me was, "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. The Commander had been alive when we jumped through a gate."

Her haunted eyes said something else dire had happened.

I got her a mug of something stronger, in the dim corner, where we were talking in a quiet period before the later drinking day started. "Who jumped through this gate?"

"We didn't have much choice, ya see. The roof was collapsing and we were too far underground..." she said, looking into her mug. "Elondra pushed Grobnar just about through the gate first, as he was probably the only one light enough she could do that to. Elanee, Sand, and Khelgar carrying Zhjaeve were next. I went through just as she was telling Casavir to move his ass. But both of them were right behind me.

"That's all I know," she said sadly before downing her mug. "The gate spit me out somewhere, alone, days ago. I was hoping you'd heard something."

"No," I said, looking down into my own ale. Looking back at her, I said, "You're the first one I know of. There only seems to be wild rumors. The only thing I knew, was that the Keep hadn't fallen."

"It was damn close," she said glumly.

What bothered me was the names she hadn't mentioned. So I carefully asked, "What about the others?"

With a look of sympathy, she asked, "Are you sure you want to know?"

When she asked that, I knew the worst was yet to come, "Yes."

"Garius used magic and bindings on me for information to help him plan his attacks," she said in a pale whisper. Her face had gone almost corpse white against the color of her freckles and hair. "Qara and Bishop joined him of their own free will."

Oh, gods. I thought the worst he could have done was seduction and abandonment. My niece had been so young when she arrived here. But this was far worse.

"What happened to him? I'll hire someone to hunt them down if they survived," I vowed.

"I dunno exactly what happened," she admitted, "I think Zhjaeve was removing the enchantments on me, so I missed part of the battle. What I next saw, Qara and Jerro were just bodies. Jerro had at least the stump of an arrow, but part was also from Qara. Bishop was gone, and there was another arrow in Garius. I really don't know. Bishop nearly killed Qara at least once before Elondra and Casavir and the rest got down to the chamber."

"...I should have let him die. There were other rangers," I heard myself utter.

That was the worst mistake of my life, to save the scorpion crossing his burning river.

Neeshka gripped my arm, with a sad smile, and said, "But where would I be if she hadn't given me a chance near Fort Locke? You gave him a chance, his being pond scum isn't your fault. How many give people a second chance? We should drink to that."

I agreed with her, but nursed a plan to finish that problem if I ever saw Bishop again. Qara was dead, that left only Bishop for my revenge.

x x

Within the next few days, my staff had returned quietly, and more and more people had returned to the city. Some of the Greycloaks had even stopped in for drinks the last couple days before the city gates officially reopened and I could open up my main doors. Sand had survived as well, and returned in better robes than he complained about buying here, and Grobnar returned as well, quiet for him. But they had no additional news, other than their travels, and left quickly for the Keep. To wait there.

I'd actually turned a decent profit during the evacuation, having increased my prices a little, but I was putting it all aside for hiring some mercenaries.

In less than another tenday, Khelgar had returned, by ship. He would be much more willing to tell me more about the battle, especially when I brought a small keg into the back room for our talk.

Careful to speak as to an elder, I asked him after he'd had a few, "What happened at the Keep? I thought your clan-sister had her troops well trained..."

"Aye, that she did. They were as ready and willing as you could hope for mostly untried troops. And they fought well, bless their memories," he said, looking for once, like the many years he'd lived through.

"Didn't the Keep hold? I know she was selling off many magical items to pay for construction," I prodded.

He was of a warrior clan, and would see more of what I needed to know. The other three were not fighters, no matter their other skills, and would not understand sieges in their bones, like any dwarf would.

"Nay, nay," Khelgar said sadly, "The Keep was in good repair. We were ready. That whoreson broke the gate gearing, and had the balls to stay and brag about it."

Gods, it was worse then I'd heard, "Why didn't I hear this before? Sir?"

"It was the usual tension before battle, but the battle came even sooner. She told us we'd have to be the gate, or all would die. Kept young Casavir from chasing after him right then. But we held the Keep, even though we hadn't known what happened to that brat Qara or poor little Neeshka when the fighting ended. It seemed only minutes later that we went after the damned Illefarn ghost and found them all again." Khelgar finished his drink and filled it again, even though he surely wasn't happy this time.

"Was it Bishop who broke the gate?" I asked, around my dread. This was even worse.

"Aye, he'd still been stuck with his head up his ass about Casavir and the Commander. Sometimes, it had been funny, watching them try to out maneuver each other, but it's not funny anymore. The stupid ass thought she'd opened her pants for the paladin just before a siege. As if a good commander would even have much time for that, with a hundred different decisions and defenses to shore up that night. The lad might have made a declaration, but she was on the walls most of the night until the elf just about sat on her to get some sleep. I'd bet my favorite ax that nothing happened between Elondra and Casavir, neither of them looked that happy even before that bastard told us about the gate."

I wanted to retch, at my one good turn biting me like this. Swallowing my bile, I asked, "What was next?"

Heavily, Khelgar admitted, "I wasna surprised when he appeared out of the shadows with that Garius, nor even Qara. I was shocked to see our little tiefling, with such a blank face. I only heard about half of Bishop's daft babbling, trying to figure out what looked wrong about Neeshka. Quietly, Zhjaeve said that she was heavily enchanted and that I should be ready to restrain her. Then it was just waiting for a few minutes of rest while Bishop tried to justify his betrayals. It was odd he even bothered.

"But that Garius got short with him, and Bishop started to obey even as everything began to happen at once. When next I looked that way, Garius was destroyed, and both Qara and Jerro were dead or dying as some more of them pesky undead swarmed. Zhjaeve was using several spells to free our rogue, all while muttering in some other tongue. We had a very short lull, before the shadow's king arrived. Commander Elondra said Bishop had shot Garius, probably with one of the arrows of slaying he'd had for the bridge. Young Casavir did not correct this, even though he still looked outraged, so something happened while I was distracted. Neeshka was back on her feet, though, and I'd far rather have her at my back than Jerro," the dwarf admitted.

"Then was this king of shadows and the gates?" I asked him flatly.

"Only one gate, even if we didn't know we were traveling that apart," Khelgar said with a smile. "Else, we'd have been a fine paste under all those rocks. I'd have never lived it down, in the afterlife among my kin, to be caught like that."

"So, Bishop survived?" I asked him, not even pretending to hide my interest.

"Aye, the Commander insisted we stay together, and leave the beard snot for later. Killing Garius doesn't balance what he did. I'm not sure how his shot weakened Jerro, but I canna say I'm upset he died, after what he did to Shandra," Khelgar said glumly, before taking another swig.

I had to close my eyes. I had been attracted to Shandra from the start, but I'd been thinking like my brother, that I'd had time, for she was young. But she hadn't, and I missed that chance. I took a long pull myself. I asked, "You don't know where he is, then?"

Looking off to the east, Khelgar admitted, "No, for all I know, he was squashed when the roof fell. Haven't ye seen him? He lived here."

I shook my head, and filled his mug again. Too many questions for tonight, I would have to learn more, to find his location and have the money to hire someone very competent. I had a few trinkets, still, that weren't that important to me, and I could visit the moneylenders as well. Sooner or later, Bishop would return to Neverwinter, as he hated Luskans too much to stray further away...

x x

The next day, Khelgar left for the Keep, as had all the others but Sand. Sand had a new spell that let him visit the Keep every few days. In a bit over another tenday, Sand told me that Casavir had arrived at the Keep with a couple of elves. That left only Elanee and my niece as missing, even though we'd all heard that divinations said she was in good health.

What worried me was that good health could also mean a desert island, or slavery in the Underdark. I didn't reduce my prices, and the difference was still going into my mercenary stash.

Days later, early in the day, when I was sweeping out the mess left by the previous night's customers, the door opened and someone entered.

Looking up, I saw at first that it was a trio of elves, looking travel worn.

A second look showed me Daeghun, and a male and female. They all had the armor and stance of rangers, and I felt a pang, again. Would we still be on better terms, if I had embraced nature, as he would have liked?

"Daeghun," was all I said.

"Duncan," he said. "Cephirra, Roncletius. Investigating Illefarn shade, assist them." He managed to make even elvish sound flat and sparse.

He turned to leave again. A precise summary was all he offered, but I was older now and had been through two wars while he lived in his barren swamp and hid from others of his kind.

"**No, damn it!**" I shouted in common, "I am tired of explaining crap, when you cling to your solitude in that damned swamp! You have no fucking right to keep dumping people on me, and expect me to explain and handle all those little social things you're too self-absorbed to bother with!"

My brother turned back, and with his face still totally blank, said, "Ask, then."

Why did it have to come to this?

"What do you know about what happened in that damned swamp? What haven't you bothered to tell anyone else, as if you would get some kind of fucking prize for the least words spoken in a year? Do you even feel anything about me or your daughter?" I hadn't meant to say the last, but it came spilling out.

I saw perhaps the tiniest wince from Daeghun, before he responded.

The other two were politely pretending they weren't here.

Flatly, Daeghun said, "Two groups went in. A smaller group of three, and a larger group of eight some time later, though the entire area still stank of the undead. My daughter was in the second group. When I arrived, days later, the ground was collapsed, and only one male's track left the area, which I lost to terrain and time intervening. There has to have been other exits. No living place, that it once had to have been, has only one entrance. Trapped is only safe for so long..."

My brother closed his eyes, opened them again, and continued, still in that flat voice, though I could see a glint in his eyes, "I will find a way in, even if it is too late, that I can only mourn."

He was damned good at that.

"Go," I said, barely able to speak, myself. "Go, once you have gotten whatever you needed here. Just don't forget there's more to the world than the damned swamp."

Nodding, he left immediately. I pinned my hopes to her passing through the gate, even if none had seen it.

Shaking my head, I turned to the other two, and said politely in elvish, "I regret you had to witness that dispute. We have been having difficulties of the last decades, and getting his attention has been difficult."

Carefully, Cephirra said, "I am sorry your loved one is still missing. It is true that we learned more at the keep than when traveling with him. The paladin spoke far more, despite his sorrow, during our travels."

"You traveled with young Casavir? How far away did he appear?" I wondered, as simple distance would make her trip back long.

"The High Forest, not that far from Hellgate Keep," Cephirra said with a slight smile. "He made no complaints at the haste of our journey here." This was accompanied by a slight smile at Roncletius.

Roncletius looked slightly embarrassed, but only one used to how controlled Daeghun was, would have caught it.

"Was he grieving loss or death?" I asked, hoping they knew. He had warmed over their months here, outside Bishop's company.

"He did not know," she admitted, "but he regained hope when we arrived at the keep."

"Enough of this. What do you know of this curse from the old empire?" Roncletius demanded.

Sighing I told them of what I knew, and that the old mage Aldenon might know more. I mentioned Sand and his shop, and Roncletius looked disgusted. I also mentioned that there might be more information in official records that my niece grumped about once. At this evidence that their stay would not be brief, he looked irked. Cephirra looked pleased.

I could easily understand that, and offered them rooms. Her companion had spent the time sniffing around the common room and plainly could detect where Bishop's companion had habitually stayed near him. I didn't see if Roncletius had one.

They left to find Sand first, and Cephirra threw an amused shrug as they left. I almost would like to see the confrontation between the taciturn ranger and more social Sand, but I was sure he'd tell me later.

Early in the evening Cephirra returned, without her partner, he much preferred camping than staying overnight within the city. In an odd switch she spent the evening watching the usual crowd from Bishop's old spot. Maybe her presence would clean it somehow. Within a day, they were studying from Sand's apparently copious notes about the former guardian, and he was plainly looking forward to introducing Roncletius to Aldenon, when Sand stepped over for a visit and a drink.

Cephirra asked suspiciously after Sand had left, "Why was this Sand pleased?"

Smiling myself, I admitted, "Aldenon is nearly senile. He knows many things no one else knows and seems to have never taken an apprentice. So any who want the information must deal with him. He has protections, and servants, and luck of the gods, but learning anything from him quickly is **not** going to happen."

"Oh my," Cephirra said with a grin, "Ron is not going to like that. Are you sure there is no one else with this information?"

"Yeah. Aldenon can be formidable if you get his attention. I remember when he bought his mansion, only a few years before I bought this inn. He was distractable then, especially by a pretty face like yours, but even more by a pile of old tomes. He'd always buy any old tomes found by adventurers passing through..."

Soon enough, I was talking about my days adventuring, and asking about life in the High Forest, and it was a pleasant evening. She had nearly the same experiences growing up with the Wild elves there as I'd had with my brother. I know I felt better, realizing that it wasn't just me.

We saw a bard performance and ate at the Mask, and talked about almost everything but why she'd come here. Days turned into tendays, and I'd learned the lesson of my human side, and didn't wait, as I had with Shandra.

There was still no news of my niece, nor even of Bishop.

Once they'd learned all they could from Sand, it took several tendays to get information from Aldenon. They were long enough at that, that Sand had gotten permission for a brief session in the Greycloak archives. Roncletius had been eager for a different source, it was the work of only a day to fill in a few more facts from before Sand joined them.

Satisfied late that afternoon with what they'd found, Roncletius declared in the _Flagon_ that it was time to return home and report. He then left us with a snotty look familiar enough to me from Sand.

"Are you sure, you wouldn't like to stay?" I asked again. I had suggested it after a particularly good day a tenday before.

Smiling faintly, Cephirra said, "I'm sorry. I enjoyed visiting your city, but I need the forest too. Are you sure you wouldn't like a new life?"

"I'm sorry," I echoed. "I enjoy the woods too, but I need new faces. I want to know what happened to my niece, and sometimes even worry about my brother. I have to stay."

With one last kiss, she said farewell, and left with her companion. The next day, I cleaned up the few small items she'd left in my room, and put them in a small finely carved chest, wishing her well in my thoughts.

I still didn't know what happened to my niece. I had feelers out for someone who did "work."


	8. Hidden Escape: Neeshka's Tale

_Certain major characters are not mine, though the Commander is mine, among others. Rate M for language and other bad things, just to be safe. _

x x

**Parts Unknown - - -**

_--Neeshka _

_I hope we make it, I hope we make it, I hope we make it... _That was all I thought as I hightailed it into the gate, my head still echoing from earlier.

I wasn't sure if anyone had ever managed to bandage the Zhjaeve, I was never that fond of her, and it had been far too easy for me to be willing to attack her for Garius. But the Commander had only said something rude, with such a look of disappointment, while yelling for help from Runty. The spells soon cast, it was such a relief to fall and not see their faces anymore. I felt so bad.

The only thing that made me feel better was that these scum hadn't asked me that much about my friends, when Qara kept spouting off, out of spite. Bishop had been mostly silent, looking at her with contempt, making a tiny corner of my heart laugh, despite the fact he was still scum. But I couldn't say or do anything about it. I could only watch as Qara gloated about her plans for Sand and his corpse. With this hatred of chains he just said, had Bishop even noticed I was in magical chains? He just didn't give a damn about any chains on other people, only on him.

But this Reaver general had lost me, then Bishop and Qara, then his very unlife, even as I was still numb and dazed.

Elondra and Casavir had helped me up, after Khelgar released me, and I realized Qara and Jerro were both dead, and Bishop was gone. My head was echoing like a stage. Zjhaeve was doing some healing, as were Grobnar and Casavir. The Commander was thinking, and looking around sadly. No one looked at Qara's body.

It could have been far worse.

Then, I could only look at the corner where I could just feel a gate was forming. Zhjaeve cast one of those strange blessings of hers, and the next battle began.

By the end of it, the stupid King of Shadows had finally been destroyed and Zjhaeve was worst injured, though we all needed bandaging.

Hell, hells, hells! The ceiling also wanted to come down and keep us company. We all knew we had to use that strange gate now, and Elondra yelled at us to move our asses!

She slung Grobnar through the gate, even as Elanee and Naloch went. I looked back at her swearing at Casavir, before my run for the gate, but he was reluctant to go first. I knew she was more fond of him than she let on. Khelgar and I had been with her for longer, since before being with the Greycloaks and city politics made her watch every word and action, but I remembered her before. The runt never noticed some things.

I ran for the damn gate, hoping it would stay open long enough for all of us to flee. The only ones still there were Sand, Casavir, and Commander Elondra.

Running through, I wondered what plane we were going to. There were so many bad ones, from what I'd heard and from things Jerro mentioned.

x x

After I went through, I landed on something unstable and wet that went 'squelch' with my boots when I took a step. I regained my balance, and found I was standing on a bed in a dark room with several candles burning nearby in a room that stank with the copper of blood. I was alone aside from a bloody corpse, with a long dagger in his throat.

No bard, no runt, no paladin, no friends at all in the dim bedroom. Hells! Where'd they end up? But they weren't here. None of them would leave a mess, an injury like this. And I'd been too close behind them.

My head still echoed, and I could feel a near migraine, I guess, but I didn't have any potions anymore. Qara had taken most of mine, the bitch.

Scanning the room, the body was a human male. Middle aged, wearing only his extra smile now, and he needed clothing to look passable. Whoever did it, dripped some blood leaving the bed. A little sloppy for a professional, but not my business. I only robbed them. If I killed them, I couldn't rob them again, after all.

The room was of someone quite wealthy, the sort of room Leldon would have liked to own. He hadn't had this kind of good taste, I thought as I scooped up loose items in a hurry. I wasn't sure why I was hurrying this much, this guy wouldn't care, and I was leaving the bigger and more identifiable items. Who'd really care about a snuff-box or jeweled inkwell? I even took the counterfeit hand-mirror.

The smell of blood in the closed room was getting to me, and reminding me of the recent battle and those I was missing. I had to get out of here.

I went over to the window, and found the shutter slightly ajar. Swinging it open, I saw the horizon that looked pretty normal, even if I didn't recognize any landmarks outside the window. The buildings I could see looked similar enough to ones in Neverwinter, but I could see several towers not that far away. Neverwinter didn't have any towers like this, and I was getting a bad feeling about it. I may still be on the Sword Coast. Easing out the window, it was easy to climb down to the ground. As I did, I heard some pounding and yelling from the building I just left. I needed to find a hiding place, and fast.

The street was oddly empty for so early in the night. This is not a happy town. Where are the drunks? The teenage hormones on parade? The shoppers? The partiers? There wasn't even a watch to enforce this graveyard, and it was too damned quiet. I ran down the evening street, staying nearer to the shadows, turning randomly until I found myself near a small, smelly dock. My head was still ringing from the fight, and I missed the others, even the runt.

I missed my friends.

Hearing the plodding of several bully-boys, I faded into the shadows of an aged shed that had not much smell. There was a small door hidden in a building that looked like it would collapse any day. It felt like a good place to hide and rest. I wished I'd had healing, as Garius had taken the last. Real stupid if he wanted us to be effective, but I guessed I hadn't been dead enough to please him.

Inside, it was very dim even for me, and I froze, hoping the plodders would pass by. It seemed to take forever, but I heard them go away. Then I heard a sigh of relief.

"Who's there?" I snarled, pulling my daggers.

"Ferrit," came out very shakily.

"Come out where I can see you better, it's been a bad day." I kept my voice low. Perky wouldn't help here, and I wasn't feeling too nice.

A slim shape shuffled out, covered in fresh bruising, blade nicks, and blood. Swaying on his feet, he was wearing little more than ruined rags. He was barely a teen, and barely conscious. And he was terrified of me.

Me.

First I was glad and felt powerful, but then felt like shit for even enjoying it a little. My head still felt a little funny, like I was rattling inside my skull.

"Okay, kid. You stay quiet there, and I will here. You betray me, and it'll be the last thing you do," I said, trying to sound menacing. Too bad I couldn't have killed Bishop like that, but I knew he was too tough for me unless I got really, really lucky. Even flanking was harder with Karnwyr, even though he had left the ranger.

Ferrit snuffled, nodded and sank to the ground. I felt bad, he didn't look any threat to me, so I added, "You give me a hand, and I'll pay you. Cash, or goods, even."

The panic on his face faded as he realized I wasn't going to kill him, and he nodded.

I knelt down, and put away my daggers. "Well, Ferrit, let me start with the news. Where are we?"

His eyes got big in disbelief, "Luskan. The old docks."

Hells! I'm sure I would not be welcome here, if the movers here found me. I'd been here briefly a few years ago, but never really left the team. Staying here even long enough to heal, did not seem a smart idea. Next, I asked, "How well do you know the city?"

"Pretty well. You here to buy someone?" His fear was back.

"Nah, I don't even buy horses. I just want to get out of here," I admitted.

"To Ruathym? Are you a spy?" The kid looked excited at that thought, as if one would be as... misplaced as I was right now.

"I'd prefer Neverwinter," I admitted. At least Neverwinter wasn't officially at war with Luskan right now, there should be even legit shipping. But I would prefer a lower profile, given the ways we'd annoyed important people from this city.

He almost begged, "Take me with you. That's my price."

"Why? How hot are you?" He may be more hunted than I, but that might be all the better for a successful escape.

He looked away. I was sure he was about to lie.

"I escaped from one of the captain's hands. They don't allow rebellion, and I want to stay me," he said too flatly.

That sounded true. It sounded truly desperate.

"You do know that you won't know anyone there? Life can be hard there, too." I wasn't gonna sell him some myth about golden cobblestones.

"I haven't heard Nasher likes boys, for all the things they've said. That's good enough for me," Ferrit said bleakly. He briefly looked older than me.

I did not want to think about that, right now, and said, "Okay, deal. You get me to a ship's captain for a quiet trip, and we're gone."

Carefully he admitted, "They won't be out now, to take on quiet passengers. We'll have to wait for tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Play it straight, and I'll even get you started in Neverwinter." I still had a hidey-hole near the _Flagon_ I didn't really need anymore. If it was still there. But I'd prefer he didn't try to rob me as I slept.

Taking a few small sips from my waterskin, I offered him some. Warily, he drank. I didn't have any rations, I guess Garius didn't think I'd need any.

I moistened a rag, and wiped off my face. Resettling on the floor, I could see the sides of my boots were drying into a tacky mess, though the soles were dry. I tried to wipe some of it off, but it didn't do much good, and I started to weep.

It wasn't the boots, and it certainly wasn't the deaths of Qara or Jerro. I had come far too close to helping kill my friends. It wasn't my choice, but it wasn't any less horrible. Now, I didn't know where the gate sent them. I curled up, and continued to weep, watching the door hatch and keeping myself silent.

They could be anywhere; gates were tricky. They could have appeared here in Luskan, too. If they were recognized, they wouldn't go down quietly. The Commander might be okay, but she wouldn't leave anyone behind, especially the paladin. The rest could be tricky or find an ally. Khelgar found other dwarves in the oddest places. Elanee, Grobnar, and Sand would have no problem fading out of sight, one way or another. Zhjaeve could be a problem, but not as much as a paladin... here. I'd have to listen for any disturbances.

Then again that gate could have taken them anywhere, the rat-bastard of shadows was coming from another plane. They could have gone wherever he came from, or even some random plain, making the abyss more likely than any other. Even if they stayed here, they could have appeared in the middle of an ocean, in a volcano, or in a dragon lair. I got lucky.

Elondra and Casavir were behind me, maybe they didn't even get through, and were dead underground. They all could be, since the gate was made by those who saw dead people as better than us live ones. I wept until the light shifted for a new dawn coming.

Wiping at the tears, I looked over at Ferrit, who was curled up and watching me warily from the corner.

"What're you looking at?" I whispered.

He mumbled, "Nuttin."

"Remember that," I muttered as I settled again to rest, where I could keep an eye on him as much as the door.

I woke later, hearing the morning sounds of a muted docks area. Some birds, a cart rolling away. But not enough of the shouts, curses, and bragging I should have heard. The kid was sitting there watching me, silently. My stomach was complaining, but I wanted to stay off the streets. I didn't know enough to go out.

Not realizing why, I moved over to Ferrit in the early light and covered his mouth and put a quieting finger in front of my face. He nodded, and I withdrew my hand. After a moment, I realized what I'd heard was the podding footfalls of some bully boys or watch. One stopped and leaned against the shed. The other stopped and pissed onto the shed.

A few drops came through knotholes, and it reeked.

"Har! You got the bitch to leave us alone today! But you still owe me eight gold from last night," a rough voiced man said.

"Four gold," a smoother voice stated tiredly. "I agreed to double two gold, not four. Her intestines only reached four feet before she stopped screaming."

"Heh, my mistake," Rough said insincerely. "You wanna double again in two nights? I hear they actually got a few Ruat sailors, and their twitchy noses, brought in this morning. They might even think they are being ransomed. They fight much better than some of the captured spies."

Smooth chuckled, "I made a lot off that one spy a few months back. All you idiots thought he'd be tough, with his armor and used weapon."

Groaning, Rough agreed, "Rub it in again, how you spotted the hammer incised on his armor. He didn't even fight at all, starting some fucking hymn..."

"He screamed nicely enough, when that other prisoner finally managed to hit him in the right places like the crowd wanted," Smooth said musingly. "But it meant the little planar cunt, got to live several more matches."

I was biting my lip, as I could easily imagine my friends in this horror. Looking at Ferrit, his face was unchanged by this discussion. Somehow that was even more horrible, that this was nothing new to him.

"Yeah," Rough gloated, "After she won a couple times, she even got to have fans visit her. But I couldn't afford it."

They both laughed, and Smooth asked, "Dice?"

"Sure, silver though, this time. Haven't run into anyone trying to bribe me, to collect a reward from a Captain as well..."

It must have been only a half hour, but it seemed longer while they played. They only stopped briefly, when another joined them.

"Ah, Namos. Enjoying your students?" Smooth asked carefully.

The new voice was very flat and controlled, and gave me the goose pimples, even though I wasn't sure why.

Namos said with a smile I could hear, "I always do. Soon this little group of fledglings will be released to find their own futures. I will have the sad task of starting the training from scratch again. It is so hard to find good recruits who have no contacts in the city. Silver or gold today?"

"Silver. I hear you enjoy teaching them many things, and three in four won't graduate," Smooth said with a laugh.

"Three in five, but one of those three will have fulfilling positions in helping others find relief. Teaching them how to think is always a rewarding task. Though the prettier or more striking ones are... admittedly more likely to make it through training. I am a little soft as I grow older," Namos said snidely.

I could taste the blood in my mouth from where I'd bit my lip. The dice game had resumed for a little while, and Ferrit looked paralyzed. Some dock bells went off, and the gamers finally left after exchanging coins and threats.

Sitting there, thinking, I realized I'd been lucky when I was here before, or perhaps it had gotten worse since then.. But I doubted it. Sand had been here for a while and plainly hated them here, though he seemed okay. And what Bishop had said to the Commander at the end, meant he'd been trained like that. And that ass Lorne as well.

While Bishop had turned when she tried to give him a chance, even he didn't do these things. Strange to find a place where he seemed moral. But this better explained the neutral masks that both he and Sand, in their own ways, wore in towns. I didn't think I could have kept a straight face hearing that horror. Ferrit had almost dozed off.

A bit longer, and it felt like after noon, and I moved over to ask in a whisper, "How much longer?"

"Fourth bell. When officials make their extortions in the taverns, others make some in the dock. Wilben's a courier and doesn't have to get departure papers." His whisper was hard to hear.

"Fine. You start negotiations, you know them. I'll figure out if I have enough to cover it." I hoped I could trade my latest acquisitions, I wasn't sure my Neverwinter coins would be good here, and I sure as the Hells wasn't going to trade off important items if I could help it.

Ferrit curled up again to sleep. He must have found a rag, as his face was now a cleaner kind of grubby. I stretched, and flexed, and pretended to pick the lock of my room at the Keep. Hours passed, and the dock became even quieter. I heard the return of a cart, not too long before the tolling of four bells.

Ferrit gestured for me to follow, and we finally left the shed. The late afternoon light seemed very bright after being in that shed all day. There were people about, many more than last night, but they were all suspicious of each other, to the point of...near insanity. I saw very few women out, only solo 'professionals', some even plying their trade in the nooks. One had some avid watchers, the other didn't even get any notice from passersby.

Spotting a weak fountain, I detoured to refill my water skin. Then the boy led me to the building signed as, 'Wilben Bros. Shipping. Luskan, Neverwinter, Waterdeep.' The word 'Ruathym' had been poorly painted over. Entering the dim shop, I moved a few yards and I faded into the shadows to watch the negotiations.

Ferrit walked in only a couple steps, almost like an old man. It wasn't an act, I'd caught glimpses of some injury, the whole way here, despite my own wariness.

"Captain Wilben?" he asked carefully.

Another tiefling stepped out from an alcove, and I could feel myself bare my teeth in a snarl. His smile felt like a mirror to the ass-hole ranger's.

He stepped over to Ferrit, and stopped, coldly saying, "So, did you enjoy your time with Geppol? You going to parley that into a job, or have you reconsidered my offer to work on the _North Gale_?"

The boy blanched, "How could you? How much did he pay you?" before launching himself at this Wilben with one of my daggers, waving it wildly.

Ferrit was an excellent distraction, Wilben turned to ward off the boy and my own dagger slid right into Wilben's spine nicely, my other into his ear.

Ferrit was standing over the body in shock.

"Gimme back the dagger, kid. And take all his money," I whispered as I carefully took the blade from him.

I checked the rest of the cluttered store-front, and found a hidden moneybox. That provided a nice cache of coins. I broke open the decoy one also, and made a mess. Now all we needed was another captain. When I got back to Ferrit, he hadn't moved, and was still staring at the body.

Shaking him, he finally met my eyes.

"Come on kid. You're not the first one that's happened to. It happened to... a friend of mine in Neverwinter too." Or close enough, Helm's hold was not the best preparation for the docks.

Stripping the corpse of everything valuable, I gave the purse to the kid. "Here, have fun spending his money when we get out of here."

I was happy to see more than a hint of satisfaction in Ferrit's face. The first positive emotion I'd seen from him. He'll be a charmer when he grows up.

Trying to be calming, I said, "Now who's your second choice? Preferably someone less friendly and more greedy, we can deal with greedy."

"Captain Klellan's a greedy bastard, but holds his deals," the kid said, looking at the pool of blood around the corpse.

"Lead on," I said pulling him towards the door.

He lead me to another ship, with a half-elf officer. This wasn't Klellan, but his first, Nalled. It took all the coin we got from Wilben, and I sweetened the deal with the counterfeit to the officer. I even told him it was a counterfeit, and why. The boy's face got huge, though he was still painfully quiet. We got to share a cubby just above the bilge, though Nalled threw in some hard tack for us to gnaw on until we had left port.

_The Friendly Rick's_ left port at true dawn, after a number of visits from inspectors. Once we were out to sea, we could come out and eat with the crew and move about. I even paid for some things for the kid. and help from the ship's healer. I was up at the prow looking out over the water, when Ferrit found me.

He asked me only, "Why?'

I looked away again. "Let's just say I've been a bit corrupted by some people I know. And one gave me a new start, despite warnings from others."

Maybe that's what the Elondra had been trying to give Bishop, before he bit her hand. But I found I liked the feeling of giving Ferrit a break. Not quite as much as a well-planned job working out as planned, but it still felt good.

I continued, "I hope they're still alive, too." I looked at him again, "But you, you're too young to have no options. Whatever you had to do back there, I know enough people who will help you, just because. So think about what you'd like. If you like the street life, you can have that. If you want something more respectable, I know people, from a mage to a paladin to dwarven king. If you just want to be a kid for a few years, you can do that, as long as you're willing to run errands sometimes.

"So think about it, just let me know after we're safely off this ship. My offer of the cubby holds, too, but the streets can make you do stupid things. I know."

"Thank you," was all he said.

A few hours later, Ferrit said he wanted to be a kid, and that I should call him Sanndor. I told him about Wolf and his gang at the Keep, but warned him I wasn't positive they made it through the war. Then I had to explain the war and the King of Shadows. Then I had to back up and explain the Commander. By then, I had also gotten the attention of a few others, including Nalled, who let me know, in that snooty elvish way, that I knew too much. I didn't talk much about the rest of us, or even anything about the Elondra personally. But bad mouthing Qara, Torio, and Garius was fun. Not quite as sure about Bishop, as he'd left that last battle on his own, I left him out. I made sure the blame for Ember went where it belonged.

Wryly, the Nalled asked later, "Have you had bard training?"

"No," I admitted, "But my one friend is, and I think he wanted to do something for Ember."

x x

_The Friendly Rick's_ put in to Neverwinter, four days after leaving port. Most of it was a rough passage, I spent part of it sick, and all of it worried. I was so glad to be back. The docks were still partly shut down, and the city was under martial law. We had to sneak off the ship and avoid the patrols, not that these were hard to do, even with Sanndor tagging along.

I just wanted to find them.

The _Flagon_ looked to be open, kind of, and I told the kid it was a safe place. He should get some food, and a room of his own, which I'd cover for a bit. I'd meet him later.

I went first to Sand's shop, where his golem, or whatever it was, was trying to sell a pathetic selection of potions. So he wasn't back yet. Dashing over to the Flagon, I wasn't surprised to see that it was pretty empty. Sanndor must either not have come, or gone to bed.

Duncan was there, with a cloud over him. No one else was here either. That left only the Keep to check for them, but I wanted to talk to Duncan first.

"Heya, Duncan! Do you have anything good to drink?" I tried to say cheerily.

"Neeshka! You're back!" Then his face got an awful look, instead of the happy one it briefly had. "Where is she?" he whispered.

"Sorry, I dunno what happened" I wanted to cry. "Ya see, there was this gate, and she was alive when we went through..."


	9. Heir of West Harbor: Bevil's Tale

_Many of these characters aren't mine, but I'm glad we can play with them._

x x

**Crossroad Keep - - -**

_- - - Bevil_

My gut hurt. My shoulder hurt, too. I don't even remember when I had been hit there. All I could remember was the attackers, coming at us with little pause. Fighting, encouraging my men, bandaging a few injuries, and dragging bodies back while trying not to see their faces, just for today.

After too many deaths, the attackers were all gone, finally. I saw Elondra, well the Commander, if I was speaking to others, touring the keep briefly after the fighting had ended. I heard the old mage who lived in the keep library, chattering about a chance to attack and looking for her or the paladin. I also heard wild rumors that the mages were trying to contact famous names to help in the fight or that we were completely surrounded by enemy and were gonna die. Those I slapped down. I heard a lot of things, some just stupid.

Soon enough, they left the keep again, leaving us with the wounded and the dead, to attack the cause of all this.

Not very many were aware that I'd known her a long time, and I wanted to keep it that way. I was afraid the bards would find out I'd fought with her once, but she always managed to hide from any visiting bards. I was just a Greycloak, aside from the handful who knew better. She'd advanced far and above a village militia that we'd both started in, but I didn't want attention of the things she'd fought.

Lord Nevalle, Captain of the Nine, was staying here, to command if there was another attack. Though without her group, I wasn't as sure we'd survive a large attack like that last one. Those Ironfists were busy repairing the gate and other key parts of the fortification, as were some of the spell-slingers from the city. Their magical repairs were too smooth, unlike the honest walls made by the excitable Veedle. Daeghun was going to lead a patrol, real soon now. At least I knew he wouldn't panic like some of the newer scouts or those from the city.

The light outside was dim, even though there were no visible clouds, but I kept touring the towers, to make sure the lookouts were keeping a sharp eye. One had passed out from exhaustion, and I sent him to find Kana to find a relief for him. My far sight wasn't that good, but I would have to do until some relief came up.

Coming back down through the stairwell later and exiting into the yard, the light hurt my eyes. It was brighter than it had been in days. Still cooler than it should be this time of the year, but my spirits lifted for the first time in I didn't know how many days. Then the whispers started, that the shadows must be defeated...

--- x ---

The next few days were a continuing nightmare. Protecting our visitors, extra patrols, extra deaths, healing and repairs. Unless you were seriously injured, you didn't get a full night's sleep. Before I knew it, a tenday had passed until I finally got a good night's sleep.

The next morning, all the people who were now dead or missing finally sank in. Some I'd never been that fond of, like Kana or the sorcerers. But no one had returned from Elondra's group, nothing had been heard from them since they left here. The darkness had faded, sure enough, but someone should have returned in the days since then. Too much of the captured lands had been between here and there.

The higher ups had left days ago, finally letting us relax a little. Lord Nevalle just left this morning, looking cross again at our less than matched equipment when he said his farewells. Not that many of us cared about it, I'd rather have a good solid weapon and armor than something that was pretty.

Left now to our own devices, we were falling into our routines from before the battle, even if it seemed everyone was watching for them to return. Patrols were larger and more frequent, and there were too many deaths reopening roads. We lost Kana, Chekkin, Tenuff, and Pyderson, as well as newer recruits or those from the city whose names I didn't really know. Nevalle took all the city troops when he left, but all our survivors had healed, some even were back on duty. Our patrols kept clearing and destroying more faded remnants of the king's army, but the Keep was secure. But no one had come out of the Mere, and we kept waiting.

We even had volunteers for sentry duty.

But all that netted us was a signal late in the evening that someone was approaching the outer gate. I hurried out, as well as Katriona, even though she was off shift. But it was only Daeghun.

Daeghun looking even more like he was carved of wood, more frozen than I'd ever seen him. For an instant in the lantern light, he looked a wreck. But the trick of the light was gone as he stepped closer.

"Some kind of underground space collapsed," he announced in a calm, flat voice. "Their tracks led in, but there were no gaps or openings or disturbances in the debris. No group has come out within a distance of the core area around the entrance they used. A large complex would need more entrances. I only came long enough to give you notice that I do not expect to return until I have more definitive news."

With that he turned and left again.

The guards and others of us who'd hurried, hoping for better news, just looked at each other. No one said anything. Bad news could wait until morning, and Katriona ordered such.

I went back to my room, pulling out a bottle of strong spirits I'd been saving, for my own little wake. The elf could live in his denials, as he had for all the years of my life. But that many people with spells and magic? They'd fail to come out only if they'd died.

Now there was only three who remembered West Harbor now. All the people I grew up among, the home my family had built and rebuilt, all were gone. The people: foolish, the wise, the gossips, the good dancers, the ones who could get lost in their own back yard, the petty arguments, the Harvest Fairs, my mother and sibs... There weren't even enough of us to even try to rebuild: a watchman who'd been gone to Neverwinter for many years, an elf who'd buried his emotions years ago, and me.

I didn't have any vision, any plans. I wanted to do the right things, but I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I came here, looking for my friend. My home was still gone, and this place was a fort. Once I'd wanted to travel, but decided my family needed me more. Was I being cursed with my younger wish?

That thought went with me as I drifted into a hazy sleep. I hadn't really passed out as my bottle wasn't that big, but that didn't mean my dreams were any kinder.

Waking, my head was pounding. No, the door and my head were pounding.

I hid my head under the pillow, and heard the door crash open, nearly splitting my skull open.

"Sergeant! You were supposed to be on duty an hour ago! What have you to say for your self?" Katriona shouted crisply.

I managed to sit up, and said while gritting my teeth, "I'm sorry, Sir. I should probably be put on sick call today."

"You've been drinking," she shrieked.

Holding my head very still, remaining calm was not a problem. She was probably speaking normally, as I felt I needed a level to make my head stay flat.

"Yes, of course I was drinking. I had to do a wake for my friend, for all the people who've died in that swamp," I said, keeping my voice quiet.

After a long moment, Katriona sighed like a storm gust, "We still don't know that. They've been away from here longer than a tenday before."

"That old stick of an elf made it there and back and found nothing. He found no evidence that they escaped that collapse, and he's a better tracker than that Bishop was. He would not have brought news, if he hadn't scouted the ruins with his companion quite thoroughly. Oh, he'll keep looking and waste years or decades on denying the truth, clinging to what he's lost, but that never did anyone else around him any good!" I had ended up nearly shouting, making my head hurt more.

Waving a hand at me so I would be more quiet, she nearly whispered, "Okay, Bevil. Take today on sick call, you haven't before. Any emergency bells and you're on duty, regardless, and you will be pulling extra duty for at least a tenday... And drink some water before you get back to sleep."

She slammed the door before leaving.

I drank the tepid water in my pitcher, before falling asleep again curled up in a ball, again seeing all the now dead faces, starting with Amie.

The next day, I was doing my extra shift at the gate when the fiendling came up to the gate on a lathered horse. Asking sadly for news, I had none to give her, so she rushed inwards looking so pale her freckles looked like bloodstains on her face. I heard in the next day's report that there'd been a gate or something they'd fled through, but she'd appeared alone and hurried back. She began to hover at the gate, making some of the younger men nervous, but I made them settle. Any who fought with the Commander, could hover all they wanted.

A couple days later, I heard the elf mage appeared in the library by magic. I missed it, as I'd been out collecting the old coot Aldenon from the site of some heavy fighting outside the gate, where he said he was measuring residual shadow or negative plane energy or something. I might have believed him, but he was using a wire coil and a gingerbread cookie. He was pleased enough to see Sand, and their speech quickly became a mix of magic terms and elvish for all I knew.

The elf must have given a better report to Katriona, as the next day's reports said that most of the others had survived, including the Commander, according to a divination in a temple in Waterdeep. Three more days, and the gnome had returned with the elf from Neverwinter. I was not at all surprised to learn that we'd no new information from him other than he'd been far away.

What did come as a surprise were my orders, later in the day, from Katriona, to form a larger escort to help Aldenon return to the city. As he was nobility, and had provided valuable help in the war, he was to be accorded every courtesy. I was also to keep very close to him day and night, and make very sure he didn't wander off until I delivered him to his steward in the city.

I really wanted to stay here like everyone else, in almost a vigil, but I still had days left in my punishment and no other sergeants wanted to go. It took two days to get him packed, with all the things he absolutely could not travel without. Not as early as I would have liked, we left the keep, bound for Neverwinter.

I'd never been there, but I was stuck in the center of the escort, riding in the wagon with Aldenon. At least he created these soft and thick cushions that made the ride over sometimes damaged roads more tolerable. But the seats smelled a strange combination of mint and camphor that he couldn't seem to smell. I doubted I was going to catch a cold on this trip.

He spent most of the morning chattering about his garden in the city, and how the warmer weather helped all his plants weather the winter. Excepting the rhubarb, which he used cold spells on in their pots. I'm not even sure if all the things he named were plants. In the middle of telling me how he planned to change his tulip beds this year, he rhapsodized over the genius of his gardener's knowledge of compost and how to mix dragon dung to control mosquitoes in the summer in the swampy corner of his garden. I wasn't sure if he had a source for that or the griffin dung he wanted, but this much worry about dirt was amusing.

Happily eating his lunch that had been packed back in the Keep, the coot looked me in the eye, and said, "A late storm is coming."

"Undead? Another army?" I asked. We didn't have anyone but Greycloaks in our group, and we had traveled too far to make a run back to the Keep.

He looked at me funny, and said, "No, no. Ice and snow. The weather will be changed chaotically from the taint and chill of undead to the land. I can feel the weather change in my knees."

I signaled some of my juniors closer, and the more experienced travelers said it would be milder if we got closer to the city. So we increased the pace. Later the sky became greyer, confirming Aldenon's knees.

He was wailing about his man removing the straw too soon off some plants and them freezing from the storm. Then babbling about some kingdom centuries ago that had bred flowers that glowed in the evenings, not really of any interest to me in trying to decide when we should stop. Finally it was getting close to sundown, and I had the camp set up close together in the most sheltered place I'd seen. I also ordered fewer tents despite grumbling, warmth was more important than any shyness, when they were all staying dressed all night. I was in Aldenon's tent to enjoy his snoring. Sleet hitting the edges of the tents, tarps over the horses, and trees above us made that tinkling sound, that said ice storm.

We didn't travel the next day, and had to cut back on food. Aldenon was not taking the short rations and cold at all well. He got irrational, and started a tirade about several other families trying to buy and steal his mansion and putting pigeons in his patio to spy on him through the windows. I ended up giving him extra sweets which calmed him. I could go a little short a few days, and requested the others' sweets as well if he got bad. He also kept wanting to use the chamberpot constantly, like a child, making the tent rather smelly.

That did mean none of the others were very interested in sharing the larger tent that had the small brazier. It really wasn't that much worse than home was at certain times of the year.

The next morning, most of the slush had melted, and if we went slower we might make it to another village yet today. I was worried about Aldenon, he couldn't seem to get warmer, even with being bundled with extra blankets inside the wagon. I and a couple more went into the wagon to try to warm it with body warmth. He finally slept late afternoon, even as the wagon sometimes slid on the ice on the smoother roads. We reached a village just after dark, and commandeered barn space to get everyone out of the cold. For Aldenon, I used far too much money to rent him an interior room with a fireplace. I insisted on a receipt, and the villager almost spitefully wrote one out.

Checking on Aldenon, he called me Betrin, and patted my head. At least he was calmer when I went to sleep in front of the door.

In the morning, he seemed better. Greeting, me by name, correctly. When we ate, bought at ruinous prices with my own money as I hadn't been given that much, Aldenon was worrying again about cheats in the city trying to sue him to take his land and mansion and garden.

By mid-day we could see the city in gaps in the trees only a few miles away. Travel had gotten much better, with only wet and damp today. Aldenon was on the bench again, talking about examining the Illefarn ruins once summer came, and wondering if he could find and hire guides and guards anywhere, or if the spirits would be willing to guide him.

I could feel a pity, as he seemed to have no kin, only employees and his studies in the twilight of his life.

Mid-afternoon and we were entering Neverwinter. The streets were emptier than I'd expected, but we reached his house without any problems. The buildings were all fancy, and there were servants preparing for spring, all in plain uniforms. Some in richer clothing, were arguing with another servant at the doorway. Aldenon began shrieking at the one. After some yelling, that one left protesting, with clods of mud and weeds dangling in his clothing and hair. The old coot had good aim.

Aldenon complained some more and scurried into the house muttering. The one servant remaining, in the better clothing, was the estate steward, whatever they did. But he asked for any travel receipts and a report of the journey. Once that was done, we headed for the barracks and a good night's sleep after a quick report.

I decided we'd stay here a couple days before beginning our return trip. I turned in a report to D, another member of the Nine I remembered seeing once at the Keep. I didn't want to reveal that I'd never caught his name, and no one seemed to notice I never used it.

The others either went to buy treats they couldn't get at the keep, or to visit people they knew. I stayed in the barracks, relaxing for a change. Sitting back near the fire, very late, I was surprised to hear my name.

"Bevil Starling! What are you doing here?"

Opening my eyes, I realized it could only be Cormick, though he looked even bigger than when he'd left West Harbor. He was higher in rank, but he looked cheerful and glad to see me.

Startled out of my doze, I said, "Escort duty, to bring the sage back to his estate... Sir."

"No need to be that formal, this late, Bevil. I'm glad to see you are well," he said, sitting down beside me with a couple of large tankards. "I saw you got promoted, but hadn't seen anything else in any other reports."

"Not much else to say, Cormick. I do mostly training, as Georg was good teaching us the basics," I admitted.

"True enough," Cormick said with a smile, looking around the empty hall. "I advanced quickly when I got here, as did Whyntll. Do you have any news about them? The rumors here have been getting pretty wild."

With no urge to smile, I told him, "They didn't walk out of the collapsed area where there was some battle. Three of their group returned, only in the last few days before we left, but they got out before others like Elondra and Casavir through unknown gates. They didn't know anything about where the gates would send them. The mage says that divinations say most still live, but nothing else about what happened to them."

He drank from his ale, and we sat there for a few minutes. Gates were dangerous in bard's tales, and appearing in a lake while wearing armor was an ugly way to die. Not that there were many pretty ways.

A few minutes more, and Cormick sighed, and put on a smile again, "Congratulate me, Bevil, I'm engaged!"

"Really? Congratulations!" I could say with a new smile.

His smile got sappy, as he told me all about her. A chandler, who worked in and with one of the temples, making special candles. She was beautiful and smart and charming and... I felt sure he was a little prejudiced, but he sounded happy enough.

Finally he asked, "Have you met anyone?"

My smile grew harder, and I said, "I almost reached an understanding with Amie, but she died in that earlier attack on West Harbor."

"No one since then? That's, what, well over two years now? You sound like old Daeghun," he said with a half-smile.

I could feel my face freeze as that struck my heart. It had been that long, hadn't it? It still didn't quite feel like she was dead until I'd had that little wake. But I'd **never** wanted to be like the elf in his stasis. Even he had finally left the swamp after his daughter, but I'd never quite left. I somehow thought I'd go back home after all this.

All this must have shown on my face, as he brought out a hip flask and shoved it in my hands. I drank a long slug of something stronger and gave it back with a muttered thanks.

After another long moment, I said, "I always expected to go back and serve in the militia on the family farm."

Cormick shook his head, and told me, "We can't go back, there's nothing there."

"Our family's memories and our homes," I objected, feeling younger.

"You already have your memories, and those lands have been tainted by the shadowking. You rode with the sage, did he say anything that let you think it could be rebuilt?" Cormick asked.

Among the dross, the only thing I could remember was, "He wants to hire guards or get ghosts to show him things."

Shaking his head, Cormick said, "As senile as he can be, he doesn't think there will be any settlers, only ghosts. Is that a place to live? Is that a place for family?"

That became a weight in my stomach, as he was right. I would have to make a life somewhere else. "But where should I go? I don't think I want to be a career soldier."

"I can't tell you that. And making that kind of plan may depend more on other things and a girl. Patha is a city girl and the candles she makes are more for temples and wizards, so Neverwinter will be our home. Find a girl you like and decide then," Cormick said, trying to be encouraging, I think.

After what happened to West Harbor, I didn't really want to fight the swamp anymore. A larger community might survive disasters better, too. But I didn't like the size of Neverwinter. There were too many people, and it was so loud.

He interrupted my thought, and said, "You don't have to decide tonight. You're still young enough to have some time. Just let West Harbor go."

"It was my family! My home! My friends!" I said, getting angry.

"You think I don't know that? I lost all my kin there too!" he answered me, growling in kind. "Don't throw away your luck or blessings to have survived. Would Rhetta have wanted that? Merrig would be telling you to get out there and grab that second chance. Tarmas would just grumble at you. Georg would be tellin' you to hoist a large one for him, and then telling you about the lass who has her eye on you. Remembering them, doesn't mean you have to die too. A clean start won't betray their memories, while dying in a tainted land would."

With a heavy sigh, he rose after a few minutes, clapped me on the shoulder and left me to the dying fire. I put more wood on and settled to think a while.

In the morning, I received recompense for the trip and I wandered through the city a bit, thinking there were a lot of shops. Then I was directed to the open Merchant district. I spent most of the money I'd saved and brought, buying clothing, tools, treats, and even a flask like Cormick had.

I saw more people in the merchant area, children running around and even shouting in the late afternoon sun. They looked muddy as I'd remembered the three of us being that many years ago now, returning after we'd set up a prank on the Mossfields. We hadn't gotten in trouble, but Elondra'd been unable to see us for tendays.

But these kids didn't have much mud, I remembered my mother washing my sibs of theirs many times. Grumbling, with a few swear words, but everyone knew she wasn't really upset. I missed having a family. I could farm, I could do something else, what didn't matter that much to me. But I missed having people to come home to.

I continued thinking about it when we left early the next day to return to the Keep. This trip went much faster this time, and when I got back to the Keep I realized the senior guard at the outer gate was eying me, and I smiled back at her. Making plans could wait until we were both off-duty.


	10. Other Kinds of Clans: Khelgar's Tale

_Certain major characters are not mine. Language and other stuff warning, just to be safe..._

_- x x -_

**Parts Unknown -**

_- Khelgar Ironfist_

Once the pretender had been ended, I took a moment to catch my breath and look around the cavern. We had to be several levels below the marshy and unsteady clay of this swamp. It was almost strange that any kingdom the elves had a part of creating went this far under their trees. With an almost silent shifting of the shaped rock around us, I knew they hadn't had the smarts to ask my folk to help go further down into some solid limestone. Always thinking they understood rock and soil better than we.

The next rumbling wasn't as silent, and I knew the elves had used too much magic in their building.

Zhjaeve told everyone the obvious from her place resting on the floor. It didn't matter, there wasn't time for us to escape the way we came in. As fond of underground construction as we were, I felt no desire to die in this one. I'd probably be laughed at by my kin who had gone before me.

I was a bit closer to the damn gate and grabbed the priestess. There was no time to be gentle about hauling her out of the death trap, and I thought she lost consciousness again as I ran with her. Little Grobnar was almost cheerful as he went through just before the tree hugger. The mage and demon girl would look out for themselves, and I was sure the lad would watch out for our lass. Even if she was yelling at him to move faster.

Young Casavir was smitten enough to make him amusing, even if our Commander seemed slow to notice.

Rushing through the gate I did not trust at all, I landed in snow, deeper snow than I liked. The priestess made a noise as I regained my footing, but didn't say anything else. I wasn't sure if she'd been further injured, or only briefly conscious when we came through. We needed some shelter and I was worried that we did not have enough gear, especially clothing and blankets. I thought Zhjaeve wasn't used to extreme weather.

Looking around for shelter, I saw we were somewhere that winter's hold was still not broken. The terrain was hilly, and I thought we might be on the western side of a hill, but I wasn't completely sure. No dwellings or visible trails in the snow nearby. I could handle the cold for a time, but the priestess always dressed too lightly, and I could feel her shiver already.

Some low hanging pines offered the only shelter in sight. There was snow on the branches, but that would even cut on drafts. I carried Zhjaeve through the downwind side, and the breeze was cut down. The ground looked dry enough under the branches and the needle layer looked thick over the ground, so I put her down long enough to clear enough ground to make a fire in my steel shield. Out of the snow and breeze was enough to make me feel warmer, so I put my cloak on the priestess while I cleared a slightly larger area for a larger fire.

Ripping out some of my helm's liner gave me enough fabric to provide some fuel along with a few needles to quickly ignite it. Soon a small fire was throwing off a cheery glow in the dimness under the tree.

Between our body heat and the fire, it was already getting warmer. The shield was radiating heat well. But the priestess was in a daze. Digging in my pack, I had only a single healing potion left, and I carefully fed it to her and rested for a few minutes.

Saying something in her own language she sounded better, but fell asleep again. Pruning bits of the old wood from the tree to keep the small fire going, I slept very little.

In the morning I woke from a doze to the planewalker's chanting. "Early greetings, Master Khelgar," she said carefully after she'd cast her healings.

I felt fine now, aside from being hungry. "Thank ye fer the healing. How are you?" I started to rekindle the fire with the little fuel that remained.

She seemed to shiver and admitted, "I am well enough, even if cold. Do you know where the others are?"

"I don't know. Only we appeared here, an' it's too cold for you without more winter gear," I told her, even if it was too obvious to me.

"I know that to be very true. I can traverse the curtain to return to my people. I would prefer to know what happened to the Sword and the Ka... Commander before I return, but I know that the Sword has left this plane. Its echo no longer ripples through the Prime. Though the destruction of the King of Shadows will be welcome news alone," she said with the smallest of nervousness.

Wondering who or what she was reporting to, made me uneasy. Perhaps her people were as different from the gith as humans like young Casavir was from that sorcerer Jerro. I'd learned my lesson about pre-judging others for Oleff, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to be any less careful.

Hesitantly or maybe she was still tired, but Zhjaeve asked carefully, "I am returning to my people now, to resume the search for the Blade. This land is harsh, do you wish to come with me? Know that there are dangers there too, just not as much from the cold."

It only took me seconds to decide, and so I told her, "Nay. I want to make sure the lass is well, and then return to my kinfolk. Spring is coming, even here."

She nodded solemnly, and said, "Then fare well, Khelgar of the Ironfists. May you find satisfactory meaning and purpose in your days."

Swiftly after that, she cast a spell and opened a gate to a silvery place before she stepped through, without another word.

She'd left the cloaks and her blanket behind, and I packed them up. She was odd enough for a healer, even if she was still good. Too bad she didn't have a real god.

Cooling down my shield in the snow took only a matter of moments. I would need repairs for it.

Outside the tree's shelter, it was a sunny day with light that was too bright shining off the snow. I could hear water trickling from the warm day. The first thing I did was to find a long limb I could use as a pole to test my footing and avoid crevices, and then I decided that continuing westward would be better than climbing over the hills.

I wouldn't win any races with the pace I was setting through the snow, but for a few days I didn't see anything aside from wildlife. I wasn't very good at hunting and I thought I could survive perhaps a tenday without it. I had a small amount of iron rations. I had plenty of water from clean snow I'd melted in a skin between my back and pack as I made my way through the day.

When I got back to my clansmen at the Keep, we had some things we needed to discuss. Khulmar had been doing passably well as a caretaker, but he acted more like a miser than a guardian. Both he and the others who'd come to fight had an energy and purpose that we'd been missing for far too long. The younger ones had been so interested in even the limited skill and defenses at the keep. We could do much better, but they acted more like they'd all been asleep for a century. My kin needed to wake up and give up their isolationism, or we will only fade into the rock itself and our lives will have no meaning.

Khulmar resented my travels, but we needed that energy from meeting and working with the younger races. Perhaps we also needed to reestablish contacts with other clans for their skills and fresh viewpoints. We could not let ourselves dwindle into a senility like that Aldanon suffered.

Thinking back, there had even been very few marriages and youngsters in the last few decades. Our shame should not have been that important to will ourselves into this decline.

After navigating around a hollow place in the snow, I shook my head. It would take decades to effect these changes, even with the crown. Coming to fight at the Keep had given them a taste of life again, and I had to push on that, even if they got stubborn. Even as stubborn as I've been accused of being.

That made me smile and think about Mistress Elondra. She was young for her duties, and I always made sure I used her proper rank despite her annoyance. But I knew how much those humans put their respect into the titles, and she deserved that respect. Even if she'd asked otherwise as a Greycloak officer many times, so my stubbornness was her frequent complaint even if she finally only made a face sometimes. The others in our crew usually did as well, after some occasional prodding from me. But it did no harm for her to be treated with proper respect by those in Neverwinter and her rank gave strangers some comfort in her judgment, even if she never quite believed that.

The lad helped as well, not that that should be a surprise with his training. Was a good lad, even if a little brash for one of His paladins. Perhaps he was a little too caught up in butting heads with the ranger, but he should have a little more faith in the lass. She was good and fair, for as sneaky as she could be at times, and I was sure she was fond of him too.

It was just too bad I couldn't have a word with the elders of their clans, to kick both of them along.

The terrain was leveling out, and looked more like farmland, even if I didn't see any buildings nearby. Sooner or later, I would find a road or some people. If worst came to worst, I would reach the coast travel south. If I weren't so worried about my comrades, this would be an enjoyable journey.

It was even nice to travel in the quiet, not that I ever really had anything I wanted to speak with that elven wizard about. He was just a bit too fond of his lectures to the younger ones of our group. The lad was either interested or more polite than some of the others. They were one of the few ways to shut up the bard and Sand was easier to ignore. I wondered how many of his cantrips were used just to clean and repair his robes during our travels. Even quality work could only stand up to so much time on the road without magical help to stay that pretty.

Unlike the poor lass Shandra. She looked sweet and feisty all the time that I knew her, as brief as that turned out to be. Elondra had been upset that magic couldn't counter the dark magics that had killed her. I could pray she reached a safe haven after she died, as I was sure she'd followed Chauntea.

The fiendling usually made me smile now, but seeing her so stiff and wooden in that cavern was just offensive to me and all the gods. She'd never sounded that puppet-like even when scared out of her wits near Fort Locke. Why that Garius thought we'd believe she'd turned on us when the mischief in her eyes was totally absent, was beyond me. I'd restrained her long enough for her to be freed, and her eyes after that would haunt me for a long time. I hoped she reached a more hospitable place than this snow field, she might not feel as much of the cold, but I didn't think she would be able to find food.

That was a concern for me as well, but my body was more compact. I still had a little food left after three days, but not that much longer before I'd have water only.

I supposed that having the nature lover along would be an improvement, as I was sure she'd be able to identify the weed I was tromping on as making a great broth. But for all I knew it was a great poison. She was a harder one for me to understand, as she seemed to complain at odd times when I first knew her. Once she got more used to how people lived outside her swamp, she settled.

Grobnar had never settled, despite threats from both myself and the ranger. Something I supposed I should be more embarrassed about. But he might be having trouble seeing over some of the drifts and the songs he'd play to cheer me up on this march...

Him, I was glad wasn't here.

I was also glad the spoiled sorceress had finally gotten the beating she'd long been asking for. She only wanted power, and to use that one others who'd annoyed her, often only by their existence. While Ammon Jerro had made some very bad decisions, and may not have resisted if the Commander had turned him over for execution, he knew his decisions had been questionable. Qara didn't grasp that anything was wrong with what she did.

I wasn't sure if that ranger was any better. He seemed to understand that some things he did were wrong, but he was lost in his anger, something my trainers would have corrected if he'd not been human. Good riddance.

After another day, I spotted some movement in the distance and turned in that direction with an occasional shout. I had to hope they were friendly. When I caught up with them, they were wearing the kinds of seemingly random collection of materials in their gear. They had to be some kind of barbarian tribe, and looked at me with suspicion.

Saying little, I was led a bit to the north to a somewhat hidden village. Inside the hall, I realized that part of it was set into the ground to reduce drafts, and most buildings I'd seen were not permanent.

Near the large fire in the center of the hall was a large elder, and when I got closer, I saw that he was on the older side for a half-orc. He peered at me carefully as if looking for something, and then met my eyes.

"Welcome to our hall, dwarf. What brings you to our lands so early in the year?" He said with more welcome that I'd expected from the other ones.

I gave him a respectful salute, and said, "Well met. I am Khelgar of the Ironfist clan. Who are you to be my hosts while ice and snow still covers these lands?"

With a short laugh, he gestured to a pack or cushion behind me, before taking a seat on an old saddle. "I'm known as Daelan Red Tiger beyond our lands, from my own time as a wanderer. You are far from your own lands, and we are hungry for news after a harsh winter."

"Aye, I can tell you some tales, all of them true, even if I am not much of a talespinner," I said with a grin, as I saw some tankards being brought over to us.

They had only heard rumors and little else about our war against the King of Shadows. And after I'd told mine for a while, I heard about the ones about his wanderings, and learned he'd been one of the ones who'd faced the late Aribeth. We talked far into the night, comparing eventually the problems we'd each had with our clans. He'd been glad to hear that Tyr's temple had recovered after the war with Luskan, and that the lad had a stout heart. I was impressed with his experience planewalking and fighting some truly powerful infernal.

Good friends by the time we'd emptied the keg, we weren't that steady on our feet when one of the newly woken people led us to bedrolls further from the fire. I got a late start and met his family before we spoke about my wish to return to the Keep.

Thoughtful, he admitted, "You are perhaps a tenday, maybe two from Neverwinter. We are nearly midway between Mirabar to the north and Longsaddle. You could take the trade road that runs between them, but that would take much longer than perhaps a riskier path."

"What would be the cost for the safer path?" I wondered.

"Travel would likely take more than a month, as the roads are not quick to travel until after Greengrass. The other cost is that you would have to be handed off from tribe to tribe until you reached the upper reaches of the Neverwinter River. Some of them, especially the Sky Pony, are as clannish and prejudiced as wild elves," he admitted with a slight smile.

I wondered if Tyr was having a joke with me, to send me among people like I'd been, but it sounded like it might halve my travel time. "Would they be violently so?" I asked.

Shaking his head, "Not likely, as dwarves like you would be no real threat to their territory or honor. They should be willing to trade news for guiding you to the next clan."

"Then I'll do it," I told him. "I want to get back as soon as I can."

He was not surprised, and added, "Be sure to be careful with your possessions, outclan are usually considered ripe for plucking or challenge."

A feast in my honor that night and I traded for some more equipment before leaving to meet with the Black Raven in a few days of travel. Daelan's advice and hospitality had been helpful and I found the slight differences between their clans, and greater from my own, to be instructional. The Ravens were more interested in trade, and seemed interested in opening trade with my clan. They had completely different goods than we made, so it should be profitable on both sides.

As warned, the War Ponies were less friendly, though by this time I knew better how to be polite. The weather had warmed, and I saw more of these Uthgardt outside their wintering halls. What surprised me was that the War Ponies were much more alike as a group than the Red Tiger and even the Ravens. They were all tall, black haired, and light eyed. They all could be cousins of young Casavir, though he had no family.

They had not warmed to me much, even with the news I'd brought with me. Still they did guide me to the next clan, some Tree Ghosts who would guide me to and along the river. After that my travels along the warmer river did allow faster travel, and I reached Neverwinter only a little longer than the tenday since I'd left Daelan.

Three more days, and I found my impatient kinsmen nearly ready to leave. I wasn't sure if Khulmar was glad or annoyed that I had survived, but he was a bit less obstinate after I told him of some of my ideas and plans after my journey. The new trade contact was welcomed with surprise.

He was a little less so when I spoke about the things I learned from seeing and speaking with the Uthgardt clans, as this was the beginning of change he was not going to be welcoming. Calming him with saying these should take a decade or two helped, but my pledge that I would return by Midwinter.

The rest of my clan left with him to return home the next day after we drank through the night in honor of all who'd fought. I would miss them while I waited here.

Neeshka and Grobnar waited here with me. I helped Katriona a little, even if she felt uncomfortable with asking my advice. I wondered if she'd heard a rumor about my new title.

Still it wasn't very many days before a thinner and travel worn Casavir came into the Armory. It looked like he'd lost too much bulk and needed to feed himself better. Plainly worried about Elondra, I thought it too soon to tell him about the War Ponies. He would never leave here until he had settled things with the lass.

_- x x -_

_A/N: Thanks to my beta reader, who's been kind enough to point out nasty icky grammar and spelling errors for me. Any others that remain are not intentional... Reviews or a PM to let me know what you think would be very appreciated._


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